NEWSBRIEFS (12/19/99)

NEWSBRIEFS

Russia, Belarus sign union treaty

MOSCOW - Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, on December 8 signed the treaty on the union of the two countries. The treaty, which follows a number of documents on the countries' union, calls for the creation of a Higher Council, comprising the presidents, prime ministers and chairmen of the legislatures of both countries, to coordinate policies. It also calls for the creation of a single currency and uniform tax policy by 2005 and a joint military doctrine by next year, according to Reuters and Interfax. President Lukashenka, who earlier said the treaty would barely change the status quo, hailed the establishment of the union "as a moral triumph of justice." President Yeltsin noted that the "union is based on the sovereignty and independence of member-nations and is not directed against anyone, not even against [U.S. President] Clinton." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Legislatures ratify Russia-Belarus union

MOSCOW - During an extraordinary session on December 13, State Duma deputies voted to ratify the treaty providing for the union of Russia and Belarus. Deputies voted 382-2, with three abstentions, according to Interfax. The leader of the largest Duma faction, Gennadii Zyuganov of the Communist Party, said his faction "has supported and will support the recreation of the destroyed fatherland union." Mr. Zyuganov also expressed confidence that Ukraine will join a restored Slavic union. In Belarus, the Chamber of Representatives, the 110-seat lower house hand-picked by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka following the controversial 1996 constitutional referendum, ratified the Belarus-Russia union treaty on December 14 . The accord was backed by 101 legislators and opposed by one. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Treaty sparks protests in Miensk

MIENSK - Two small demonstrations took place in the Belarusian capital on December 8 to protest the signing of the Belarus-Russia union treaty, Belapan reported. Some 40 people carrying placards with anti-merger slogans tried to block Miensk's main avenue early that day, while some 250 people marched down the main avenue in the evening and burned the Russian flag. Both rallies were dispersed by riot police, which reportedly arrested Belarusian Popular Front deputy chairman Vyachaslau Siuchyk and some 15 protesters. Two days later, some 200 people gathered outside the presidential administration building, which was cordoned off by police, to deliver petitions demanding respect for human rights in Belarus and protesting the union with Russia, Belapan reported. Several protesters were eventually let into the building to hand the petitions to an official. "What human rights can we speak of? We have no rights and are hardly even human beings," Reuters quoted one protester as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... and opposition's verbal condemnation

MIENSK - Syamyon Sharetski, exiled speaker of the opposition Supreme Soviet, said in Vilnius on December 8 that the Belarus-Russia union state treaty will meet the fate of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact after democracy is restored in Belarus. Zyanon Paznyak, exiled leader of the Belarusian Popular Front, said the treaty is "an act of aggression and the political occupation" of Belarus by Russia. Former Supreme Soviet Chairman Stanislau Shushkevich commented that, by signing the treaty, Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka made "a payoff to Russia to keep him in power, as it was Russia which helped him usurp the power." The Belarusian opposition deems the treaty illegal as it was signed by a president whose term expired earlier this year. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Neighbors react to new union

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Tkachenko said on December 8 that Ukraine's accession to the Belarus-Russia union is a "matter of time," adding that Ukraine may join the treaty "in three years at most." President Leonid Kuchma commented in Washington the same day that Ukraine has already made its choice and "will proceed on the path of independence." The Polish Foreign Affairs Ministry said Poland does not consider the Belarus-Russia union a threat and will not treat the union as a "new subject of international law." Lithuanian Parliamentary Chairman Vytautas Landsbergis said the Belarus-Russia treaty is a "challenge [that] sharpens the international situation," according to ELTA. (RFE/RL Newsline)

U.S. doubtful about voluntary merger

WASHINGTON - U.S. State Department spokesman James Foley said on December 8 that the U.S. does not oppose integration among European countries "as long as it is mutually beneficial ... and voluntary." Mr. Foley noted, however, that "there is no democratic process in Belarus, therefore it's impossible to conclude that the decisions on the union treaty with Russia reflect the will of the Belarusian people or that they are voluntary in nature." He added that he is unsure whether the treaty signed by Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka will meet "Mr. Lukashenka's fondest aims and desires." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Communists want union expanded

KYIV - Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko told Interfax on December 9 that the Communist caucus in the Verkhovna Rada is going to make the country's leadership "consider the possibility" of Ukraine joining the Russia-Belarus union treaty. "Under circumstances of the financial and political expansion of cultures alien to us ... this union is a positive phenomenon also for Ukraine," Mr. Symonenko noted. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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