Russia, Belarus sign 'historic' pact

April 2, 1996
Web posted at: 9:15 a.m. EST (1415 GMT)

MOSCOW (CNN) -- The presidents of Russia and Belarus signed a wide-ranging treaty Tuesday, linking the two country's economies and political systems.

More than four years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, leaders Boris Yeltsin and Alexander Lukashenko took one of the biggest steps toward picking up the pieces of the past by signing an agreement to create a new Community of Sovereign Republics.

Under the agreement, the two countries would eventually share a common constitution, budget and currency. The treaty, however, fell short of creating a single state. Belarus lies between Russia and Poland.

Yeltsin said the signing was a "historic moment" and called the treaty a "document that opens a radically new stage in the history of two sovereign peoples, two sovereign states."

"This document opens a qualitatively new stage in the history of our two brotherly peoples," Yeltsin said.

The Russian president then declared April 2 a national holiday in Russia and Belarus in honor of the event.

The presidents greeted one another with bear hugs and kisses at the Kremlin ceremony where the agreement was signed. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Aleksiy II blessed the accord, and Russian television broadcast the event live.

Yeltsin, who is seeking a second term as president in the June elections, hopes the treaty will attract voters longing for the Soviet Union. Lukashenko, a Communist-era farm director, wants Russia's help in resolving his country's economic crisis.

The union is to be governed by a council made up of the countries' presidents, prime ministers and parliamentary leaders.

The agreement comes just two weeks after the Russian parliament passed a Communist-inspired resolution that declared the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 illegal and demanded its restoration.

Also, last month's announcement of the impending treaty caused tens of thousands of Belarussians to denounce the pact in central Minsk and march to state headquarters to demand air time on media controlled by Lukashenko.

Political implications for Yeltsin

The agreement could bolster Yeltsin's re-election bid. It appeals to nostalgic Russians longing for the days when their country was a world power and dominated smaller nations like Belarus. Furthermore, Russia has deep historic, ethnic and religious ties with Belarus.

The move also could deflate the Communist Party campaign, and undermine its presidential candidate, Gennady Zyuganov, who has used Soviet restoration as a central campaign theme.

Many Russians and Belarussians have been angered by difficulties in travel and trade that arose after both countries became independent following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The new union promises to remove most of those obstacles.

However, it remained unclear just how closely both countries would coordinate their political and economic systems.

The creation of the Community of Sovereign Republics, which is open to other states, followed a four-nation cooperation pact signed last Friday by Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related stories

• Russia, former Soviet Republics sign pact for closer relations
• Belarus demonstrators protest Russian merger
• Closer ties to former Soviet republics could aid Yeltsin

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