ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997 TAG: 9704030053
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MOSCOW
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Lukashenko had proposed a full merger, but Yeltsin stressed that the states will remain separate.
Russia and Belarus signed a treaty Wednesday meant to bring their people, economies and armies closer together, in a first step toward reintegration of two former Soviet republics.
President Boris Yeltsin, who signed the accord with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, stressed that the two Slavic nations will remain sovereign and separate.
``We'll not transform our community into a unified state for now, but a union of two states,'' Yeltsin said at the signing ceremony in a gilded Kremlin hall.
No other former Soviet republics have shown a real desire for reunification since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, creating 15 separate states.
Although Russian hard-liners hailed the treaty as a step toward the revival of a mighty state, Belarusian opponents expressed fear their small country of 10 million people would lose its independence to Russia.
Critics also argued that integrating the two struggling countries would only create more problems for both.
About 5,000 opponents of the accord tried to march to the Russian Embassy in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. Riot police confronted them, clubbing and hitting the marchers when the protesters threw stones.
The clash was the worst violence in Belarus in months. Russian news broadcasts showed policemen beating women with truncheons and an officer swinging his boot to hit an injured protester who was lying on the pavement.
Opposition and human rights activists said about 200 people were beaten and detained. The government confirmed 70 people were detained and three policemen were injured, but declined to provide more information.
In Moscow, small groups of opponents staged protests, warning against any alliance with Lukashenko, an authoritarian leader nostalgic for the old Soviet Union. He has proposed - and Moscow has rejected - a full merger.
Under Wednesday's treaty, the two countries plan to coordinate economic changes and military activities, create joint energy and transportation systems, and possibly introduce a common currency. A Supreme Council, including top leaders from both countries, is to outline joint policies.
Although the treaty calls for consultations on a wide variety of policies, it proposes little concrete action. Russia and Belarus have removed customs barriers but otherwise have done little toward real integration since forming a ``community'' a year ago.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB