Editing Union State (section)

==History of formation==
[[File:RIAN archive 141088 Signing Treaty on Establishing Russian-Belarusian Union.jpg|thumb|left|Presidents [[Alexander Lukashenko]] and [[Boris Yeltsin]] signing the founding treaty of the Russian-Belarusian Union at the [[Grand Kremlin Palace]] in Moscow, 2 April 1997]]
[[File:Russiabelorussia1500rub1996scott6348.jpg|thumb|right|110px|Russian postage stamp commemorating the Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus establishing the Union on 2 April 1996]]

The ''Community of Belarus and Russia'' was founded on 2 April 1996,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Žulys |first=Audrius |date=2005 |title=Towards a Union State of Russia and Belarus |url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=816CEE9F-AFBF-4353-AD6A-E3F5D96FFDCB |url-status=dead |journal=Lithuanian Foreign Policy Review |issue=15–16 |page=149 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923202039/http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=816CEE9F-AFBF-4353-AD6A-E3F5D96FFDCB |archive-date=2015-09-23 |via=Central and Eastern Europe Online Library}}</ref> following 1995 agreements that established a [[Russian military presence in Belarus]]. 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''.<ref name="ceeol.com">{{Cite journal |last=Žulys |first=Audrius |date=2005 |title=Towards a Union State of Russia and Belarus |url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=816CEE9F-AFBF-4353-AD6A-E3F5D96FFDCB |journal=Lithuanian Foreign Policy Review |issue=15–16 |page=150 |via=Central and Eastern Europe Online Library |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923202039/http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=816CEE9F-AFBF-4353-AD6A-E3F5D96FFDCB |archive-date=2015-09-23}}</ref>

Several further agreements were signed on 25 December 1998, with the intention of providing greater political, economic and social integration.<ref name="ceeol.com"/>

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 [[President of Belarus|Belarusian President]] [[Alexander Lukashenko]], who sought to tie his excessively weak economy to Russia's stronger one, [[President of Russia|Russian President]] [[Boris Yeltsin]] initiated the creation of the Union to harmonize the political and economic differences between the two countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~robert-donaldson/yeltsin.htm |title=Boris Yeltsin's Legacy|website=personal.utulsa.edu|access-date=28 May 2008|archive-date=27 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527093340/http://personal.utulsa.edu/~robert-donaldson/yeltsin.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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. However, after Yeltsin resigned, [[Vladimir Putin]] [[2000 Russian presidential election|was elected in 2000]] to succeed him as Russian president. There was also the [[Freedom March (Belarus)|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.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/belarus/2020-02-05/will-belarus-be-next-ukraine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206152415/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/belarus/2020-02-05/will-belarus-be-next-ukraine|date=5 February 2020|access-date=2 June 2020|archive-date=6 February 2020|quote=Lukashenko signed on in the apparent hope that he could one day replace Yeltsin and rule over both Belarus and Russia.|title=Will Belarus Be the Next Ukraine?|journal=[[Foreign Affairs]] |last1=Mankoff |first1=Jeffrey }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://imrussia.org/en/analysis/3104-how-belarus-maneuvers-between-russia-and-the-west|website=Institute of Modern Russia|date=30 April 2020|access-date=2 June 2020|title=How Belarus Maneuvers between Russia and the West|quote=[...] Lukashenko was pleased with the idea for other reasons: he planned to use the arrangement to ultimately replace the unpopular Yeltsin. The creation of the Union State could lead to common citizenship, which would allow Lukashenko to run for the top office in case of Yeltsin's departure. Another reason for him to move closer to Russia was that Belarus’ highly industrialized economy relied heavily on Russian raw materials, mostly gas and oil.}}</ref>

The ''Treaty on the Creation of a Union State of Russia and Belarus'' was signed on 8 December 1999.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/555384.stm |title=Russia and Belarus form confederation |date=8 December 1999 |website=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> The intention was to achieve a [[federation]] like the [[Soviet Union]], with a common head of state, legislature, flag, coat of arms, anthem, constitution, army, citizenship and currency. 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Žulys |first=Audrius |date=2005 |title=Towards a Union State of Russia and Belarus |url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=816CEE9F-AFBF-4353-AD6A-E3F5D96FFDCB |journal=Lithuanian Foreign Policy Review |issue=15–16 |page=151 |via=Central and Eastern Europe Online Library |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923202039/http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=816CEE9F-AFBF-4353-AD6A-E3F5D96FFDCB |archive-date=2015-09-23}}</ref>

Then [[President of Kazakhstan|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]].<ref>Asadova, Nargiz.  "An interview with Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Masimov". Originally printed in Kommersant, 4 June 2007, p. 2.  Translated by Ferghana.Ru {{cite web|url=http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id%3D1994 |title=An interview with Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Masimov – Ferghana.Ru Information agency, Moscow |access-date=28 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605194618/http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=1994 |archive-date=5 June 2008 }}</ref>