Беларусь және Ресей Одағы: Тарихы мен қазіргі жағдайы

Supranational union of Belarus and Russia

the post Soviet organization

The Union State is based on a previous international treaty between Russia and Belarus made on 2 April 1997. Although it consists of only Russia and Belarus, other countries are allowed to join. and other governing bodies. As of 2024, the current president of the Supreme State Council of the Union is Alexander Lukashenko, who has held the position since 2000. The present goal of the Union State mainly focuses on economic integration, taxation, and integration of defence and intelligence apparatus.

The Community of Belarus and Russia was founded on 2 April 1996, following 1995 agreements that established a Russian military presence in Belarus. The basis of the union was strengthened on 2 April 1997 with the signing of the "Treaty on the Union between Belarus and Russia", at which time its name was changed to the Union of Belarus and Russia. Several further agreements were signed on 25 December 1998, with the intention of providing greater political, economic and social integration. According to some observers, Lukashenko's intention was also to gain great power, becoming president of a future Russia Belarus federation after Yeltsin's demise due to his all time low popularity. However, after Yeltsin resigned, Vladimir Putin was elected in 2000 to succeed him as Russian president. There was also the Freedom March, a 1999 protest against unification in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Putin's election and the Freedom March forced Lukashenko to cancel his plans and maintain a balance between the independence of Belarus and Putin's increasing pressure for further integration of the two countries into the Union State. The Treaty on the Creation of a Union State of Russia and Belarus was signed on 8 December 1999. The intention was to achieve a federation like the Soviet Union, with a common head of state, legislature, flag, coat of arms, anthem, constitution, army, citizenship and currency. The Union was ratified by the Russian State Duma on 22 December 1999 and the National Assembly of Belarus on 26 January 2000. On the latter date the Treaty and the Union came into effect. Then Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev had put forward a similar proposal in 1994, envisioning the founding of a Eurasian union, but this proposal was not adopted until 29 May 2014 with the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The official languages of the Union State are the state languages of the participating states. Russian is used as a working language in the common organs of the Union State.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko promised to introduce a common currency on 1 January 2004. The currency was not introduced, and the plan was pushed back by one year. On 1 January 2005, the Union State again failed to introduce a common currency, and it was again postponed by one year, which, in 2006, happened once again. During a press conference in Minsk on 2 February 2006, Pyotr Prokopovich, chief of the National Bank of Belarus, announced that a "common currency might be introduced in 2007". This, however, failed to occur in 2007. The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus announced that, starting in 2008, the Belarusian ruble would be pegged to the United States dollar instead of the Russian ruble.

Union State grants citizenship to citizens in both states meaning that every citizen of the Russian Federation and every citizen of the Republic of Belarus is at the same time a citizen of the Union with the guaranteed right to move and reside freely within the territory of the other party, allowing Belarusian citizens to travel freely in Russia and have the right to settle there to work or study, and vice versa including possession, use and disposal of property on the territory of another state. The Union State does provide citizens of Russia and Belarus the right to work and permanently settle in either country without formal immigration procedures otherwise mandatory for foreign nationals. They retain their national passports and other identification papers.

On 10 February 2009, Russia and Belarus implemented the first stage of joint military officer training programs designed to integrate the military structures of the countries. This military collective is called the Regional Forces Group of Belarus and Russia (RGF). The goal of these operations is to ensure cohesive training, practice and implementation of military interests for the nations, and were aimed at strategic and battle training taking place in February and March 2009. Furthermore, the military doctrine of the Russian Federation provides that "an armed attack on the state participant in the Union State, as well as all other actions involving the use of military force against it," should be deemed "an act of aggression against the Union State", authorizing Moscow to "take measures in response".

Since the formation of the Union State in 1997, Belarus and Russia have thus far failed to institute any symbols or even a flag for the Union State. There have, however been several proposals for flags and coats of arms. Two proposals have been made for the flag of the Union. In all cases, they are modifications to the flag of the Soviet Union, but representing the state (not communism). In both cases, two gold stars are placed in the canton of the red flag (to represent the two states of the Union). A song called "Sovereign Union of Nations" (Державный союз народов Derzhavny soyuz narodov, Dzyarzhauny sayuz narodau) has been proposed as the Union's unofficial anthem. The song, which was modified from the National Anthem of the Soviet Union, refers to a wider union of the two nations.

Belarus and Russia had been collecting a value added tax (VAT), meant to finance the Union State, in the country of origin, but from 1 January 2005, VAT is collected in the country of destination, as in most other independent countries of the world. This change gave rise to a considerable degree of confusion and has disrupted many trade operations between Belarus and Russia. On 10 February 2005, private entrepreneurs in Belarus staged a one day warning strike, protesting the new VAT scheme between the two countries and Lukashenko's economic policies.

and both currently have observer status in parliamentary sessions. : several political parties including the Constitutional Rights Union, National Unity, and the Towards Russia Party have expressed their desire for the country to join the Union. had expressed interest in forming a separate customs union with Russia and Belarus by 2010. This Customs Union was formed as planned at the beginning of 2010. Kazakhstan has mentioned that it may join the Union State after some time. In late May 2023, however, President Kassym Jomart Tokayev declined an offer by President Alexander Lukashenko to join the union, referring to it as a "joke." : As of June 2007, opposition in Kyrgyzstan, which has been locked in political turmoil, had initiated a nationwide referendum to join the union of Russia and Belarus. : In 2001, president of Moldova Vladimir Voronin announced right after his election that he had plans for Moldova to join the Union of Russia and Belarus. The coming to power of the Alliance for European Integration at the 2009 Moldovan elections has since shifted Moldovan interest towards the European Union. : in the Transnistrian referendum of 2006, the government said 97.2% of the population voted for the integration of the unrecognized state of Transnistria into Russia, which analysts say indicates a possibility that Transnistria might unilaterally ask to join the Union, once it is established. Already in spring 1998, 66.5% of Transnistrian voters supported joining the Union of Russia and Belarus in a non binding referendum by the Transnistrian state. However, not being recognised by either member, this is unlikely to happen in the near future. : In response to speculation about Ukraine joining the Union, then president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, declared that Ukraine is an independent sovereign state and this is not something that can be questioned by anyone in the government. The issue is to be reconsidered in the new light of the Revolution of Dignity and the developments of the Euromaidan movement seeking for the integration into the European Union. During the term of office of the fifth President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, the Constitution of Ukraine in 2019 was amended to consolidate the irreversibility of Ukraine's course to join the European Union and NATO after the events of the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. In 2021, the sixth president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stated that the creation of a "true union state" between Belarus and Russia is a real danger for Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 in an escalation of the Russo Ukrainian War that continues today. : During the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliev of the Russian annexed Republic of Crimea expressed the hope that southeastern Ukraine would form a "Ukrainian Federation" and join the Union State. However, only the self proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic broke away from Ukraine, and the confederate Novorossiya political project was frozen at the start of 2015. /: On April 12, 1999, the Federal Assembly of the FR Yugoslavia passed the Decision on the accession of the FRY to the Union state of Russia and Belarus. The legal successor of that decision is the Republic of Serbia. In 2007, Speaker of Parliament Tomislav Nikolić said during a speech that he wished that Serbia would strengthen its ties with and eventually join the Union State rather than joining the European Union, but he resigned from his position less than a week later. Although Nikolić did eventually serve as President of Serbia from 2012–2017, Serbia had submitted a membership application to the EU in 2009 and had received full candidate status in March 2012, prior to his term.

On 15 December 2006, talks over the Union State were heating up. By January 2007, however, talks appeared to be stalled, as President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus stated: "The Russian leadership is demanding that we join the Russian Federation—that's what is in the heads of the Russian leadership. I don't want to bury the sovereignty and independence of [Belarus]." He added: "From all the consultations and discussions, I have understood that we have different approaches and understandings of the building of a union state", and opposed "the possibility of the incorporation into Russia [of Belarus]". However, on 19 October 2007, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov announced that the budget of the Union State "will grow by no less than ten percent next year, and that growth will provide for worthy funding of our common projects." This has led to speculation that the Russian government have renewed their interest in the idea. A meeting between President Lukashenko of Belarus, President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Union State Secretary Pavel Borodin was held in Minsk 13–14 December 2007. This meeting received a considerable amount of media attention and raised speculation that a Union State might indeed be the focus of a new initiative by both governments. Of primary interest was renewed discussion of the Union Parliament (which, although planned, was never actually realized) and a Union State Constitutional Act, an instrument which could strengthen the authority of the Union. According to State Secretary Borodin, five variants of this Act were discussed at the meeting, each of which would involve a 7 to 10 year transitional period in the Union's development. Trade and energy issues were also discussed. On 27 May 2008, President Lukashenko, acting in his capacity as Chairman of the Supreme State Council named then Russian Prime Minister and current President Putin Chairman of the Council of Ministers. This move raised speculation that the Union was about to undergo a significant political transformation. However, the most visible and arguably important official in the Union has been the State Secretary, who runs the Union State's day to day operations. In the same meeting, State Secretary Borodin announced that the 2009 Union State budget would total 6–7 billion roubles, an increase of over 2 billion roubles from 2008. On 1 August 2011, Putin stated he supported a union of Russia, Belarus, and possibly South Ossetia. Belarusian Foreign Minister spokesman Andrei Savinykh rejected the idea, as did Dmitri Medojev, South Ossetia's ambassador to Moscow, who stated "Our people voted for independence in a referendum in 2006 and they do not relish the idea of becoming part of the Russian Federation." In November 2021, Russia and Belarus signed an agreement to provide for common policies on taxation, banking, industry, agriculture, and energy.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, part of which was staged from Belarus' territory, Russia and Belarus came under sanctions and boycotts. On 3 March, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko said he stood fully behind Russian president Vladimir Putin's campaign in Ukraine as part of Belarus's longstanding commitment to the union state with Russia. On 14 March, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin met with Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko in Moscow, telling reporters that they "coordinated measures to protect our economic security and the technological sovereignty of Russia and Belarus" and "consider it necessary to strengthen integration in the union state". On 18 March, the Russian government announced that all restrictions on the movement of citizens between Russia and Belarus would be lifted. On 1 July 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the "unification" process has been accelerated to alleviate the economic damage of the sanctions. In October 2022, following the September 2022 mobilisation of reservists in Russia, a contingent of approximately 9,000 Russian soldiers arrived in Belarus. According to the Belarusian ministry of defence the purpose of this deployment was to create a "regional military grouping" of the Union State. In the same month it was announced that Russian air forces were patrolling the borders of the Union state in Belarus.

In an interview aired by Russia's state television in late May 2023, Lukashenko stated that other countries who were willing to join the Union State would be given nuclear weapons: “If someone is worried (then) it is very simple: join in the Union State of Belarus and Russia. That's all: there will be nuclear weapons for everyone." This was just a few days after he had confirmed that the movement of some of Russia's tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus had begun and the Russian Defence Minister had said he was signing documents concerning the procedure for storing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, the plan for which had first been announced by Putin in March.