BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT CRITICIZES LETHARGY IN CREATING UNION WITH RUSSIA

Alyaksandr Lukashenka said on 4 January that although "the aims of the Belarusian-Russian union" are defined, the "tactics" for the construction of the union "are not yet agreed upon". Lukashenka, speaking at the start of a government meeting, said that adopting the Union Constitutional Act is of "crucial importance" because it lays out the principles on which the union will be based and defines how its bodies will function. Lukashenka said the economic aspects of the union are the most important, and that Russia is "guilty" of dragging its feet in approving previous agreements. He stated that a single economic space has not been created, as planned, and cited the single tax policy and common import/export tariffs as issues that have yet to be settled.