Union State
The Union State is a supranational union consisting of Belarus and Russia, with the stated aim of deepening the relationship between the two states through integration in economic and defence policy. The Union State initially aimed to create a federation; however, both countries remain independent, and the Union State instead exhibits features of a confederation.
The Union State is based on the Treaty on the Union of Belarus and Russia, an international treaty signed by Belarus and Russia on 2 April 1997. Although it consists of only Russia and Belarus, other countries are allowed to join. The supranational union is ruled through the Supreme State Council, as well as other governing bodies. As of 2025, 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.
History of formation
On 6 January 1995, the governments of Belarus and Russia, "intending to continue the implementation of the provisions of the CIS Treaty on the Economic Union", signed the Agreement on a Customs Union. On 21 February, they signed the Agreement on Friendship, Good Neighborly Relations and Cooperation. On 2 April 1996, the two presidents "relying on the historically established commonality of fates of their peoples" concluded the Treaty on the Establishment of a Community. As a result, the Community of Belarus and Russia was founded. 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. Despite initial enthusiasm for the process of integrating the two states, Belarus and Russia were significantly different in terms of the size of their population and territory, as well as their economic systems. The Russian government implemented sweeping reforms during the transition to a market economy, while the Belarusian government suspended reforms toward a market economy in 1994 in an effort to maintain Soviet-style centralization. The two states had military-political and economic interests, with integration giving Belarus the potential to buy Russian oil and gas at significantly lower prices, while granting Belarusian goods access to much larger markets. According to Dmitri Trenin: "Belarus' geography alone makes it supremely important to any Russian leadership... a principal defensive bulwark and a forward base for power projection".
Nevertheless, the nature of the political entity remained vague. Under pressure from his political opponents, who argued for a reunion of the two states, and from Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, who sought to tie his excessively weak economy to Russia's stronger one, Russian president Boris Yeltsin initiated the creation of the Union to harmonize the political and economic differences between the two countries. In foreign affairs, Lukashenko held a long-term goal of unifying Belarus with Russia.
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 and was succeeded by Vladimir Putin as president in 2000. 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, with a common head of state, legislature, flag, coat of arms, anthem, constitution, army, citizenship and currency. The treaty proclaimed the creation of a Union State "which shall mark a new stage in the process of unification of the peoples of the two countries into a democratic State ruled by law". It also stressed that the Union State "shall be a secular, democratic, social State ruled by law in which political and ideological diversity are recognized". 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.
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.
Governing bodies and legal framework
The Treaty on the Creation of a Union State creates legal framework as constitutional act and establishes the following institutions- Supreme State Council
- Council of Ministers
- Union Parliament
- Court of the Union
- Accounting Chamber
Besides exclusive jurisdictions of the Union State there are joint jurisdiction of the Union State and the subjects of the Union State that includes joint defence policy, harmonization and unification of the legislation of the subjects of the Union State, development of science, education, culture, formation of a common scientific, technological and information space, migration, working conditions and labor protection, social security, combating terrorism, corruption and others.
Outside the limits of the exclusive jurisdiction of the Union State and subjects of joint jurisdiction of the Union State and the subjects of the Union State, the subjects of the Union State retain the full completeness of state power.
Pavel Borodin was the first State Secretary of the Union. He was first appointed by the Supreme State Council on 26 January 2000 for a four-year term. In 2004 and 2008 his term was renewed for an additional four years, leaving office in 2011. Since then, the office has been held by Grigory Rapota, Dmitry Mezentsev and Sergey Glazyev.
Union State is ruled through Supreme State Council of the Union. The Supreme State Council of the Union includes the member heads of states, respective governments, and both chambers of parliaments. Decisions on Supreme Council are made by principle of one state – one vote and presidents of states give that vote. Supreme Council includes the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Union that have an advisory vote. The president of the Supreme State Council is the head of one of the participating States on a rotation basis, unless the participating States agree otherwise.
Supreme State Council makes decisions on issues regarding the security of the member states of the Union including their collective protection from outside threats, the protection of the Union's borders, military development, and many other issues.
The Council of Ministers is composed of the member states' Prime Ministers, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Economy, and Finance and the State Secretary of the Union. Permanent Committee of the Union State is formed as permanent working body of Council of Ministers. The current president of the Council of Ministers is Mikhail Mishustin.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Union comprises two chambers – the House of the Union and the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives should contain 75 deputies from Russia and 28 from Belarus, elected by the general populace of each. According to treaty, currently only House of the Union is formed and it consists of 72 deputies – 36 from Russia and 36 from Belarus. Before the elections for the House of Representatives of the Union State Parliament, the functions of the Union State Parliament are performed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 70 of the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State of 8 December 1999. Regular sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly House of the Union are held twice a year and for Quorum at least two third is needed to be present. House of the Union Parliament has 1 president and 4 vice presidents and 8 permanent committees for different areas of legislature. Current president of Parliamentary Assembly of Union is Vyacheslav Volodin On 12 December 2020, the 59th joint session of the House of the Union parliament was held to consider the Union State budget for 2021. in 4715,15 millions of roubles or approximately 61.631.112 US dollars
The Court of Union should consist of nine judges appointed for six-year terms. But while provisions for court are given in adopted treaty court was not formed.
The Accounting Chamber is tasked with controlling the implementation of the Union State budget. It consists of 11 members, who are appointed for a period of 6 years from among the citizens of the member states who have experience in control and audit who are appointed by the Parliament of the Union State on the proposal of the Council of Ministers. The Accounting Chamber establishes its own regulations, which are approved by the Council of Ministers.