- ÐÓÑ/ÁÅË
- EN
Home / Countries & Regions / Russia
Russia and Union State
Our strategic partnership with Russia stems from our geographic location, close historic and cultural links between our countries and peoples, economic ties and co-operation between the Belarusian and Russian businesses.
Signed by the heads of states in 1999, the Agreement on Establishment of a Union State of Belarus and Russia sets up a platform for a vibrant integration alliance.
According to the Agreement Belarus and Russia seek to secure the following eight major goals: ensure peaceful and democratic development, set up uniform economic and customs area, set up a single legal framework, to ensure sustainable economic development, pursue the agreed foreign, defence and social policies, ensure security and fight against crime.
Both countries move on all directions mentioned above gradually. Key focus is made on economy and social issues based on hard-edged principles – securing state sovereignty and territorial integrity of both nations as well as responsible implementation of their international obligations.
Russia is both our key trade partner and a major export market for Belarusian goods.
Over the previous five years, the Belarus-Russian trade turnover increased five times. The 2008 figures notched up a record, breaking $34 billion of mutual trade. In 2009 Belarus turned into a leader in trade with Russia among the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), taking up the fifth place among all major Russian foreign trade counterparts.
In 2010, Russia accounted for 46.4 per cent of the aggregate Belarus foreign trade and 38.9 per cent of the Belarusian exports. The turnover grew 18.9 per cent on 2009 to reach $27.9bn. the exports grew 46.1 per cent to reach $9.8bn.
During the recent years Belarus-Russian cooperation became more pragmatic. Fuel and energy sector is not an exclusion. Nevertheless, Belarus has honoured its responsibilities in the field of energy transit to European countries, making an important contribution to regional energy security.
There are more points of concurrence rather than those of dispute in our dialogue. Both nations stand for more profound cooperation in a concerted fashion.
Both countries follow a close integration pattern in multilateral formats, including those within the CIS.
A major priority is to encourage deeper co-operation within the Eurasian Economic Community and Customs Union to help move forward to a Common Economic Space (CES) of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.
The CES is all-important both for Belarus and Russia, having a virtue of creating conditions for free movement of goods, services, money, people as well as equal conditions and guarantees for businesses.
Meanwhile, we continue our joint work to upgrade the CIS to make it a full-scale regional organization boasting high level of political and economic integration.
Foreign policy
Belarus and Russia co-ordinate activities under continued practice of annual consultations and through biennial programmes of co-ordinated measures in foreign policy.
Serious results have been achieved in the field of security and defence, anti-terrorism activities, fight against crime. A number of bilateral agreements have been signed in the field of military and technical cooperation.
Security and defence
Both countries have made fairly great strides in regional military alignment, co-ordinated air defence and joint military manoeuvres.
Law enforcement
We continue to build a unified crime database, co-ordinate measures in preventing crimes, terrorist acts and human trafficking. On our western border, we keep on our joint actions against drug trafficking and illegal migration.
Social policy
Our major priority is to make sure nationals of Belarus and Russia have equal rights. Both nations work to launch a single system of social guarantees and gradually unify national legislations bearing on labour issues.
Today Belarusians and Russians have equal rights in employment, choice of residence, education, healthcare and social protection.
There are neither passport nor customs controls on the Belarus-Russia border.
Culture
The two countries enhance their cultural co-operation. We boast a genuinely big joint cultural project of Slaviansky Bazaar held annually in Vitebsk and a number of regular art, theatre and cinema festivals. 2009 went down as a Year of the Russian Culture in Belarus. 2010 saw a Year of the Belarusian Culture in Russia.
Education
Belarus and Russia continue to build close partnerships between universities, with a string of joint programmes related to science, industry, construction, innovation, cutting-edge technologies, regular seminars and workshops.
Our co-operation with Russia spans many other areas and seeks to boost closer integration. The co-operation areas under joint programmes include science, R&D, industry, construction, innovations, new technologies, IT. They form an effective mechanism of stronger integration between Belarusian and Russian enterprises.
As the projects are implemented, it helps manufacture competitive goods, use manufacturing facilities to full capacity, create more jobs and improve export capabilities of enterprises of both countries.
Belarusian-Russian dialogue is a token of close interaction of the two countries in all spheres of cooperation without exemptions for the benefit of fraternal peoples of Belarus and Russia.
To read about Belarus co-operation with Russian regions click here
