Belarus:The president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, is now saying he would like his country to join the EU, but few are taking him seriously, writes Conor Sweeneyin Moscow.
After more than a decade of sneering at Europe, Belarus's increasingly isolated president, Alexander Lukashenko, has announced he'd like his country to join the EU and the euro.
It is part of a desperate bid by Lukashenko - dubbed the last dictator in Europe - to find new sponsors as his allegiance to Moscow sours.
There's a clear shift in attitude from Moscow where patience seems to have snapped with the closest ally from the old USSR.
In one telling example of the new mood, Russian officials last week agreed for the first time to discuss Belarus with a visiting EU delegation.
They went so far as to advise them, in exasperated tones, on how to deal with Lukashenko, a remarkable reversal from the previous position, when Russian diplomats refused to discuss Belarus at all.
Inside the country, nestled between the Baltic States, Poland and Russia, dissidents feel upbeat - with Lukashenko's latest attacks on Russian foreign policy further proof of the growing rift.
They know the relative economic stability Lukashenko has delivered for more than a decade came through cheap oil and gas deals from Russia, which are now being phased out.
Many foreign diplomats in Moscow believe the Kremlin is not bluffing and intends to halt the subsidies once and for all.
Lukashenko's regime has become notorious for smothering all opposition, and has been blamed for the disappearance of at least six opponents, including a politician, a businessman and a journalist.
Yet, compared to some of the brutal regimes in other former Soviet Republics, like Uzbekistan, the repression hasn't been so harsh.
Instead, near-total State control of the economy forces many critics into silence.
The sudden recognition in the Russian media, since the dispute over transit oil shipments last month, that Lukashenko's regime has flaws also leaves the internal critics bemused.
Until recently, Belarus was hailed as Russia's closest ally, with the possibility of a merger of the two countries even discussed.
"One day, Russia suddenly understands. It's really funny," says Natalia Koliada, the founder of the Free Theatre Group in the capital Minsk.
Russian TV commentators have started criticising Lukashenko's regime, reversing the once paternal tone towards the Slavic nation, she notes.
The theatre director and her family have paid for her attacks on the regime, which retains all the old trappings of the Soviet times, including a secret service still called the KGB.
Her husband has been jailed while she only escaped a custodial sentence because she must care for her young daughter.
Although an attempt last year to emulate the popular demonstrations in Ukraine and Georgia failed, dissent continues to grow, with the momentum for change building, she claims.
"The economic situation is really, really bad. On December 31st, right before the New Year, just before Belarus and Russia signed the contract, all of the people understood that Belarus was sold out. In a few years we will find out that nothing belongs to Belarus on Belorussian territory. Then we could become just slaves," she says.
Ireland's main link to Belarus has been through projects to help children suffering health problems dating back to the Chernobyl disaster.
Ms Koliada complains that Lukashenko's attempts to thwart sick children taking respite holidays is further evidence of his disregard for the country's citizens.
"It was said that we cannot allow our children to go abroad because they come back from there with changed mentalities. Of course, he wants to control everything, this is just the evolution of dictatorship, it cannot be worse," she says.
Although Russia hasn't cut off all cheap energy to Belarus, it will in future move towards market prices, President Putin has said. Since the state-owned energy processors only survive through cheap supplies from Russia, the rising prices will cost at least €5 billion per year.
But nobody in Europe seems to be taking Lukashenko's sudden europhilia too seriously. The former collective farm manager seems to be desperate to shore up his control and knows that if the economy deteriorates, then his final trump card - the exaggerated claim that life is better in Belarus than in neighbouring countries - will be fatally exposed.
The Kremlin seems to have become exasperated with the antics of Lukashenko, who likes to star on domestic TV channels. Russia now calculates that he's simply not worth propping up any longer.