Moscow and Minsk approved 28 union programs | News from Germany about Russia | DW

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday, November 4, signed a decree “On the main directions for the implementation of the provisions of the Treaty on the creation of the Union State for 2021-2023.” At a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State, which was held via videoconference, they approved 28 union programs.

They talk about the integration of the currency systems of the two countries, the creation of a common payment space and new principles of taxation. The concept of the migration policy of the union state was approved and an updated military doctrine was adopted. Putin also announced his readiness to train and send one Belarusian cosmonaut to the International Space Station (ISS), and Lukashenko proposed to create a common media holding for Russia and Belarus.

“We intend to jointly resist any attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of our sovereign states. And Russia, of course, will continue to provide assistance to the brotherly Belarusian people. There is no doubt about that,” Putin stressed.

Allied programs

28 Union programs were previously reported only in general terms, the details of their implementation are unknown. The programs were agreed upon by Putin and Lukashenko at a September meeting in Moscow. Then they were approved at a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State.

The authorities of the Russian Federation and Belarus have been discussing the political integration of the two countries since 1999. In 2019-2020, the negotiations discussed 31 roadmaps on integration in various spheres of economy and management. The drafts of these roadmaps have never been published. Residents of Belarus have repeatedly staged protests against plans to integrate with Russia.

See also:

• Sworn friends – Belarus and Russia

  The first treaty after the collapse of the USSR

  In 1992, Minsk and Moscow signed the first treaty of friendship, good-neighborliness and cooperation after the collapse of the USSR. Since then, there have been hundreds of official documents on the deepening of integration. The Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation are part of various associations, including with other countries of the post-Soviet space – the Union State of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation, the CIS, the EAEU, the CSTO.

• 

  Sworn friends – Belarus and Russia

  “Russia is sacred”

  “Russia is sacred for us,” Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly assured. In December 1999, he signed an agreement on the Union State of Belarus and Russia with the then President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin. Lukashenko was eager to form an alliance with Moscow, hoping to become the head of this association. But with the coming to power of Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko’s hopes were dashed.

• 

  Sworn friends – Belarus and Russia

  Union without an anthem

  The Union State of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation has a common parliament, a cabinet of ministers, the State Council, and even the media. But there is no flag, coat of arms and anthem, and the leadership is carried out on the basis of rotation. This union is not recognized as a subject of international law. Moreover, Minsk and Moscow understand the meaning of integration in different ways. The Kremlin is counting on the political tie of an ally. Belarus, on the other hand, is seeking domestic Russian prices for gas and oil.

• 

  Sworn friends – Belarus and Russia

  Social package in action

  Citizens of Belarus and Russia received real benefits from the Union State. In 2006, a package of international treaties was signed that confirmed the equal rights of Belarusians and Russians to freedom of movement and work, as well as in the field of healthcare and education.

• 

  Sworn friends – Belarus and Russia

  Trade as an engine of integration

  Russia is the main trade partner of Belarus, for many years it has accounted for about 50% of exports and imports. The share of Belarus in the foreign trade turnover of the Russian Federation in 2016 was 5%. The main articles of Belarusian supplies to Russia are agricultural products, trucks, truck tractors and agricultural machinery. Mainly oil, gas and ferrous metals go from Russia to Belarus.

• 

  Sworn friends – Belarus and Russia

  Minsk calculates profit, and Moscow losses

  The sale of oil products from Russian raw materials to the West makes a significant foreign exchange contribution to the budget of Belarus. For the export of these products from the territory of the Union State, Minsk pays duties to the Russian Federation. And Moscow is counting losses – the Russian budget in 2011-2015 alone did not receive 22.3 billion dollars because of the agreement to supply the union Belarus duty-free from 18 to 23 million tons of oil annually.

• 

  Sworn friends – Belarus and Russia

  Life on loan from Russia

  Most of Belarus’s external debt falls on Russia and the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development, which also oversees the Russian Federation. In 2017, Minsk will return more than $ 1.2 billion to Russian creditors, and in 2018 it should transfer $ 1.5 billion – almost 80% of all debt expenses. According to Forbes, over the past 10 years Belarus has also received subsidies and discounts for $ 60 billion from Russia.

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  Sworn friends – Belarus and Russia

  Oil and gas wars

  The history of integration of Belarus and Russia was accompanied by oil and gas wars. Serious contradictions among the allies arose in 2006, 2010 and 2016. In response to the rise in the cost of Russian energy resources, Minsk threatened to cut off gas to Europe, introduced transit duties, and refused to pay. Moscow has promised to cut oil supplies. The allies came to compromises, but conflicts appeared on other grounds.

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  Sworn friends – Belarus and Russia

  Food scandals

  The Treaty on the Eurasian Union, in which Belarus and Russia participate together with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, since the beginning of its validity on January 1, 2015, has declared freedom of the market and the movement of goods. In fact, food scandals between Minsk and Moscow do not stop. Rosselkhoznadzor has more than once accused the Belarusian side of pasting labels and re-exporting sanctioned products from the EU and Ukraine.

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  Sworn friends – Belarus and Russia

  On the border of allied friendship

  Although Lukashenko and Russian Prime Minister Chernomyrdin in 1995 solemnly dug a border post on the land border of Belarus and Russia, in February 2017 the FSB demanded to restore the border zone and border control. This is the reaction of the Russian Federation to the “visa-free travel” for foreigners introduced by Minsk. In the spring of 2018, Russian border posts will be returned to the border. Russia introduced customs control there back in 2007.

• 

  Sworn friends – Belarus and Russia

  Atomic loan

  The state corporation “Rosatom” is building a nuclear power plant in the Belarusian Ostrovets. Official Minsk claims that the nuclear power plant will reduce dependence on Russian gas. But opponents of construction predict an even more dependent position of Belarus on Russia. We will have to repay the $ 10 billion Russian loan allocated for the construction site and pay the Russian Federation for the purchase of nuclear fuel, and then for its reprocessing.

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  Sworn friends – Belarus and Russia

  Military cooperation

  After the collapse of the USSR, strategic military facilities remained in Belarus, subordinated to Russia on the basis of intergovernmental agreements. This is a naval communications center in the Minsk region and a radio engineering center in the Brest region. Both facilities are not endowed with the status of military bases, there are no lethal weapons. But experts point out that during the hostilities, these units will undergo the first blow.

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  Sworn friends – Belarus and Russia

  “Slavianski Bazaar” in Belarus

  The Slavianski Bazaar festival in Vitebsk was started in 1992 as a festival of arts uniting Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. In 2001, presidents Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin and Leonid Kuchma gathered here. 4 thousand participants from many countries came to the 26th International Festival in 2017. At the opening ceremony, Lukashenka likes to play the role of a hospitable host.

  Author: Galina Petrovskaya

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