Russia and Belarus

The United States of Russia and Belarus

The United States of
Russia and Belarus

Flag of Russia and BelarusB
National motto: The United State is Gloious!
National anthem: "My Belarusy and the Hymn to Russia"
[1] Map of Russia and Belarus]
Region	Crimea
Capital	Minsk and Moscow
Largest City	Moscow
Population	+200 millions
Suffrage	15, Universal
Nuclear Capability	Yes
IET Status	Not Member
Military Branches	5
Coat of Arms	[ Russia and Belarus Coat of Arms]
Major Infectious Diseases	None
Official Language(s)	Belarussian, Russian
Government President	Democracy Igor Sukarenko Alexandr Lukashenko Vladimir Putin
Constitution Constitution Adopted 2005	Drafted in 2001
ISO Nation Code	"USRB"
Currency	Rouble RBR (RBR, )
Russia and Belarus Time Zone (RBST)  • Summer (DST)	Many
Internet TLD	".usrb"
Major Rivers  • Volga
Calling Code	+00907
National Symbols  • Sport  • Animal  • Fruit  • Flower  • Color(s)	Golf (br> Bear rose misteltoe red
UN Status	Soon Member
Info: NationStates NSEconomy Pipian XML

Russia Belarus Union Map.png|thumb|350px|right|Map of the Union of Russia and Belarus

The Union of Russia and Belarus (Russian: Союз России и Беларуси - Soyuz Rossii i Belorusii), also known as the United State of Russia and Belarus (Russian: Союзное государство России и Беларуси - Soyuznoye gosudarstvo Rossii i Belorusii), is a supranational confederal entity consisting of Russia and Belarus. It is unofficially called the Rusobelia (Russian: Русобелия).

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.

In 1999 the president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milošević, declared his wish to join the Union as an observing member.

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, comprised of an elected House of Representatives, which contains 75 deputies from Russia and 70 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.

Igor Sukaarenko, is Union-President and has been it since 2005,his office is in the Kremlin.

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 Belarussian 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.

See also