MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. Russia and Belarus annually mark the Day of Unity of the Peoples on April 2, established to commemorate the 1996 treaty on the creation of the Community of Russia and Belarus, now the Union State.
History of the Union State’s creation
On April 2, 1996, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed in Moscow a treaty establishing the Community of Russia and Belarus, which envisaged the creation of a politically and economically integrated association. A year later, on April 2, 1997, it was transformed into the Union of Russia and Belarus. On May 23, 1997, its charter was adopted.
On December 25, 1998, the heads of the two states signed a declaration on further unification, defining the main goals of integration, including coordination of foreign policy, defense and security issues, the creation of a single economic space, and the protection of citizens’ rights.
On December 8, 1999, in Moscow, Boris Yeltsin and Alexander Lukashenko signed a treaty on the establishment of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. The treaty entered into force on January 26, 2000.
