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The 'Union of Russia and Belarus' (Russian: Союз России и Белоруссии - Soyuz Rossii i Byelorussii), also known as the 'United State of Russia and Belarus' (Russian: Союзное государство России и Белоруссии - Soyuznoye gosudarstvo Rossii i Belorussii), is a supranational confederal entity consisting of Russia and Belarus.

Contents

Creation

Institutions and legal framework

Developments

Common currency

Potential expansion

See also

References

Creation

Originally, the 'Community of Russia and Belarus' was formed on April 2 1996. The basis of the union was strengthened on April 2 1997, at which time its name was changed to 'Union of Russia and Belarus'. On December 25 1998, with the signature of several agreements intending to provide greater political, economic, and social integration, the union was strengthened further. In reality, however, the Union may be considered as a confederation.
The creation of the Union was initiated by the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, in order to harmonise the political and economic differences between the two nations. In 1994, a similar proposal by the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was put forward with the intention of founding of a confederal Eurasian Union. However, this was never adopted.
The 'United State of Belarus and Russia''s Treaty of Creation was signed on December 8, 1999. The intention was to eventually achieve a federation like the USSR with a common president, parliament, flag, coat of arms, anthem, constitution, army, citizenship, currency etc.

Institutions and legal framework

The ''Treaty on the Formation of a Union State'' has established the following institutions:

★ A Supreme State Council, made up of the Presidents, Prime Ministers, and the heads of both chambers of the Parliaments of both countries.

★ A Council of Ministers

★ A Permanent Committee

★ A bicameral Union Parliament, comprising an elected ''House of Representatives'', which contains 75 deputies from Russia and 28 from Belarus, and a ''House of the Union'' with an equal number of deputies from each nation, appointed by the executive branch.

★ A Supreme Court of Justice

★ An Accounting Chamber, controlling the implementation of the budget.
Pavel Borodin is the current State Secretary of the Union. He was first appointed by the Supreme State Council on January 26, 2000 for a four-year term. In 2004 his term was renewed for another four years.

Developments

Both member states seem to have lost their initial enthusiasm for the union, with first Russia, and then Belarus, restoring customs controls along their common border in 2001, effectively ending the customs union. Plans had also been set in motion to implement a common currency across the union, but these have been postponed several times. Furthermore, a long-awaited agreement on a draft constitution, which according to Belarus' President Lukashenko, the Russian government seeks to model on the European Union, could be put to a vote in both countries in 2006. This is contrary to the wishes of the Belarusian administration, which would prefer that the union resemble that of the former Soviet Union.
Belarus and Russia had been collecting the Value Added Tax (VAT) in the country of origin, but from January 1, 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 February 10, 2005 almost all (an estimated 85%-90%) private entrepreneurs in Belarus staged a one-day warning strike, protesting the new VAT scheme between the two countries and Lukashenko's economic policies.
On December 15, 2006, talks were heating up over the unionization of the two states.^[1] In January 2007, talks appeared to be stalled, as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko 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 [Belarus'] incorporation into Russia". ^[2]

Common currency

Initially, Lukashenko promised to introduce a common currency on January 1, 2004. The currency was not introduced, and the plan pushed back by one year. On January 1, 2005 the "union state" again failed to introduce a common currency, and it was again postponed by one year, which, in 2006, happened again. During a press-conference in Minsk on February 2, 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 the beginning of 2007.

Potential expansion

'Kazakhstan' will together with Russia and Belarus make a Customs Union within 2010. It is talk about Kazakhstan fully joining the Union after some time^[3]
'Serbia' has on many occasions expressed its wish to join the Union. In 1999 the then-president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević, declared his wish for his country to join the Union as an observing member^[4]. In 2007, Tomislav Nikolic (deputy leader of the Serbian Radical Party) during his speech said he wished for Serbia to strengthen ties with the union and eventually join the Union^[5].
'Moldova'. In 2001, president of Moldova Vladimir Voronin announced right after his election that he has plans for Moldova to join the Union of Russia and Belarus. The talks were already going on when things suddenly went quiet. Moldova expressed its wish to join the Union of Russia and Belarus, and at the same time join the European Union. The current situation is unknown^[6][7].
'Kyrgyzstan'. As of June 2007, Opposition in Kyrgyzstan, which has been locked in political turmoil, has initiated a nationwide referendum to join the union of Russia and Belarus^[8].
'Ukraine' has said that it has no current plans of joining the union as they are aiming towards the European Union instead. Russia and Belarus, however, have claimed on more than one occasion that it is just "a matter of time" before Ukraine joins the Union. Lukashenko has also commented that Ukraine will soon join the Union multiple times. Many Ukrainian parliament speakers has also said that eventually Ukraine will join the Union^[9].

See also

★ Post-Soviet states

★ Commonwealth of Independent States

★ Russia-Belarus energy dispute

References

1. "Unified state of Russia and Belarus discussed in Kremlin", an article in ''Russia Today'', 15-12-06 22:05
2. "Belarus local elections end", Al Jazeera, January 14, 2007
3. Customs Union of Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan to be up and running by 2010[1]
4. Article from 1999. "Serbia hails union with Russia and Belarus[2]]
5. Serbian Parliament Speaker Calls For Closer Russia Ties[3]
6. Moldova ready for Russia Belarus union[4]
7. Communists of Moldova and the future of the country's ethno-political conflicts[5]
8. Opposition in Kyrgyzstan wants to join Russia-Belarus union[6]
9. Old article: Russia, Belarus sign union treaty[7]