Described as "Europe's last dictator", Alexander Lukashenko became president of what country in 1994?

Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko (born 30 August 1954) is the first and only President of Belarus, having been in office since 20 July 1994. Before his career as a politician, Lukashenko worked as director of a state-owned agricultural farm and spent time with the Soviet Border Troops and the Soviet Army. He was the only deputy to vote against the independence of Belarus from the Soviet Union.

Lukashenko opposed Western-backed shock therapy during the post-Soviet transition. Lukashenko has continued state ownership of key industries, despite objections from Western governments. Lukashenko's government has also retained much of the country's Soviet-era symbolism, especially related to the victory in the Second World War. Western opponents of Lukashenko have described Belarus as 'Europe's last dictatorship', Lukashenko and other Belarusian officials are also the subject of sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States for human rights violations off and on since 2006.

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, under Lukashenko's leadership, Belarus has maintained government control over key industries and eschewed the large-scale privatizations seen in other former Soviet republics.