Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko flew to Austria on Nov. 11 for a rare visit to the European Union, as the West sounds out the veteran autocrat on his country’s plans for a so-called union state with Russia.
It will be Mr Lukashenko’s first trip to the EU since it lifted his travel ban and most of its other sanctions on Belarus in 2016, following the release of political prisoners and a presidential election which, while far from free and fair, was not marred by violence against opponents of the former collective farm boss.
