MINSK, 28 November (BelTA) - The film "Time Chose Us" on the Belarus 1 TV channel examined the timeline of the integration between Belarus and Russia that started in 1996 and culminated in the Union State, BelTA has learned.
What Yeltsin said at a meeting with Lukashenko in 1996
In 1996, Belarus confirmed its historic choice. On 2 April, the Treaty on the Community of Belarus and Russia was signed. From that moment on, Russia became more than just a neighbor for Belarus.
"Dear Alexander Grigoriyevich! Dear friends! We are celebrating a historic moment in the relations between Russia and Belarus," Russian President Boris Yeltsin said at a meeting with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in the Kremlin in 1996.
How the opposition tried to rock the boat
Times were not easy. After the "parade of sovereignties" and the collapse of the large Soviet country, all the republics experienced colossal difficulties. Cooperative ties were destroyed, factories were out of work. It was a typical picture for the post-Soviet republics of this period of history.
After the crushing defeat in the election, the opposition made attempts to destabilize the situation every now and then. In the run-up to Aleksandr Lukashenko's visit to the Kremlin, a large protest was held in Minsk.
Belarus and Russia were the quickest to realize that it was possible to survive only together. Our countries found reference points for mutual cooperation.
Why Lukashenko saw the alliance with Russia as a way to strengthen the sovereignties of the two countries
“From now on we will stay united, go together along the path of cardinal reforms and renewal. It is deeply symbolic that Russia and Belarus were the first CIS countries to make such a choice,” Boris Yeltsin said.
At the start of our road towards close integration, in which we live today, there were many obstacles. Certain forces in our country tried to instill in the young Belarusian leader that he should not look at the East, which had been crippled by the collapse of the Soviet Union, but at the economically prosperous West. Aleksandr Lukashenko had been a convinced supporter of integration long before his presidency.
“By uniting intellectual and material resources, the Belarusian and Russian peoples will be able to overcome crisis phenomena faster and play a more dynamic role in modern international relations. The union will not only support the legal standing of Belarus and Russia, but - I am convinced - will strengthen the sovereignty of our states,” the Belarusian president said at the ceremony of signing the Treaty on the Establishment of the Community of Belarus and Russia.
How they tried to speculate on the union of Belarus and Russia
"I believe in the Union State as an integration structure which will not harm our sovereignty, security and so on," said Belarusian politician Mikhail Myasnikovich, the head of the Belarus President Administration (1996).
"I believe that Russia is our very good partner in this respect. It is a country with great potential, especially in terms of human and resource capacity."
Belarusian politician, chairman of the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee (1994-2008) Vladimir Andreichenko recalled that there were a lot of speculations about the union of Belarus and Russia.
"They said that we would become a kind of Northern Krai or Northwestern Krai, a kind of a province and so on. The opposition promoted this idea, misled people with a view to preventing close economic ties with Russia. But I think that the country was saved because we started such economic integration with Russia," he added.
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