How will Russia and Belarus live?

By Vestnik Kavkaza

Improvement of bilateral contacts between Russia and Belarus started right after the dissolution of the USSR. According to the Treaty on Establishing of the Community of Belarus and Russia, it was decided to form a politically and economically integrated community for uniting the material and intellectual potentials of the two states. In December 1999 the agreement on establishing a Union State was signed.

According to the deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Grigori Karasin, a Union State occupies a unique place and demands a separate communications strategy. A result of the formation of the Union State is that our countries don’t have customs barriers, citizens have equal rights in the sphere of healthcare. There is the Russian-Belarusian protocol for amendments and additions to the Intergovernmental Agreement on Equal Rights of Citizens of the Two States to Movement, choosing a place to live on the territory of the member states of the Union State. The protocol requires a new, longer term of residency of our citizens on the territory of the Union State without migrant registration. It will be 90 days in the future.

The next integration stage, according to Karasin, could be the establishment of a common visa space: “The Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs together with the FMS and other structures is developing a project for a common visa space. It is a very important, complex issue which should be settled. I think it is a serious basis for development of another element of integration – the establishment of a common humanitarian-tourist space for internal and foreign consumers.”

Grigori Karasin also spoke about attractiveness of Belarus for Russian tourists: “This year it is confirmed by statistics, a growth of Russian tourist inflow has been registered in Belarus, especially from regions near the border. The attractiveness of Belarus for the Russian tourist market will grow, considering economic factors and the negative effect of Western sanctions, the visa-free regime and the absence of a language barrier, geographical proximity, and the high level of resort service in the republic. I am sure that the trend will develop in the future. Russia has something to offer Belarus in the sphere of tourism as well, especially after the accession of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia, which are traditionally popular among our Belarusian friends.”

Karasin thinks that “to deepen our cooperation in the sphere of tourism, it is necessary to develop tourist exchanges, development of joint cross-border routes, providing joint information and advertising activity. The most important thing is working with young people in context, thinking what is interesting for them today, as the future of Russian-Belarusian integration depends on them.”