November 24, Pozirk. Russia is completing “a decades-long strategic effort to de facto annex Belarus through the Union State framework,” says a recent analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The Kremlin also seeks to use this approach with other former Soviet states, it warned.
The conclusions follow yesterday’s statement by the Russian foreign ministry, describing Russian-Belarusian relations as a “model” for interstate cooperation and presenting the Union State as a “benchmark” for other blocs in Eurasia.
The Union State treaty between Belarus and Russia dates back to 1999 and is of unlimited duration.
In 2018, Russia launched an upgrade of the Union State to bind the two countries together.
Four years ago, Minsk and Moscow signed 28 Union State programs focusing on macroeconomic, industrial and agricultural policies, tax and customs harmonization and a common energy market.
Ahead of the treaty’s 25th anniversary last year, Alaksandar Łukašenka and Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a security guarantees deal that provides for defending the Union State territory and border with “all available forces and means,” including the use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus.
