A.Vorontsov: “Everything depends on the behaviour that the new Russian President Dmitri Medvedev will exhibit”

Taking into consideration the fact that Belarus is the most reliable ally of Russia, the position of Russian government which puts pressure (even in gas sphere) upon the Union State is impossible to understand. Such an opinion was expressed by Aleksey Vorontsov, Council Chairman of the interregional non-government organization “Russian-Belarusian brotherhood”, at the press conference in St. Petersburg.

Taking into consideration the fact that Belarus is the most reliable ally of Russia, the position of Russian government which puts pressure (even in gas sphere) upon the Union State is impossible to understand. Such an opinion was expressed by Aleksey Vorontsov, Council Chairman of the interregional non-government organization “Russian-Belarusian brotherhood”, at the press conference in St. Petersburg.

Under his words, at present Constitutional Act is ready for signing, but exact date has not been fixed yet. “Everything depends on the behaviour that the new Russian President Dmitri Medvedev will exhibit,” considers the expert. He supposes that the first visit of Dmitri Medvedev in the capacity of the President should be paid to Belarus, and that signing of the Constitutional Act will depend on the political will of both parties.

He also believes that at present the Union State exists only verbally as far as there is neither uniform government system nor uniform political system.

Andrei Antonov, member of “Russian-Belarusian brotherhood”, noted that in the near future Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation will nevertheless ratify the agreements signed by Belarusian and Russian Presidents at the beginning of 2006 in Strelna.

Besides that, according to news agency « Regnum », First Secretary of St. Petersburg branch of Belarusian Embassy in the Russian Federation Vladimir Neronski stressed that the issue of the Union State headed by a single leader is not on the agenda. “I think that the union should be formed after the example of the EU when countries preserve their autonomy but work in close political and economical cooperation,” he stated.