Every year on April 2, the Day of Unity of the Peoples of Belarus and Russia is celebrated. It was on this day in 1996 that the presidents of the two states signed an agreement on the formation of the Community of Russia and Belarus. The fact of signing marked the beginning of the process of mutual integration of countries.
Exactly one year later, on April 2, 1997, the Treaty on the Union of Belarus and Russia was signed. The main goals of the creation of the Union were the desire to raise the standard of living of peoples, to strengthen relations of brotherhood, friendship and cooperation in the political, economic, social and other fields, to ensure the sustainable socio-economic development of the participating States on the basis of combining their material and intellectual potentials.
The next important stage in the development of union relations between the two states was the signing on December 25, 1998 of the Declaration on the Further Unity of Belarus and Russia, the Treaty on Equal Rights of Citizens, the Agreement on the Creation of Equal Conditions for Economic Entities and the Protocol to it. In these documents, the presidents of the two countries firmly declared their determination to continue the gradual movement towards voluntary unification into the Union State while maintaining the national sovereignty of the member states of the Union. At the same time, the main directions of integration work in the economic and social spheres were determined.
On December 8, 1999, the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State and the Action Program of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation for the implementation of the provisions of the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State were signed.
Since then, the union project has proved its relevance and viability. A solid contractual and legal base has been formed. More than 150 agreements have been signed that regulate almost all key aspects of bilateral cooperation.
Within the framework of the Union State, conditions have been created to ensure equality of citizens' rights, conduct a joint defense policy, coordinated foreign policy cooperation, and implement large-scale economic, scientific and technical processes.
Successful experience of interaction within the framework of the Union State contributed to the deepening of integration processes in the CIS space - many Russian-Belarusian developments were used in the formation of the Customs Union, the Common Economic Space of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, and then the Eurasian Economic Union, which began its work on January 1 2015.
Festive events dedicated to the Day of Unity of Peoples are held in many Russian and Belarusian cities.
