On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the union state of Russia and Belarus: results, problems and prospects

Introduction: the article is dedicated to the anniversary of the creation of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. Due to the changed political and economic realities, 20 years after signing the Treaty on the Creation of a Union State, there is an obvious need to amend it. There exist a number of factors that do not contribute to the main goal of the integration process - creation of a united fully-fledged state. Among those factors are the creation of the EEU, the complicated geopolitical situation, the underused potential of the countries’ relations, the slowdown in the fulfilment of the Union Treaty provisions, the influence of external political forces. Purpose: to bring academic relevance to the idea of further integration of Russia and Belarus in the context of reinforcing the humanitarian and ideological aspect of the union; to perform a comprehensive analysis of the results, problems and prospects of the Union State. Methods: dialectical method as a universal scientific tool; general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison, systemic and structural analysis, historical, sociological); special scientific methods (formal legal, formal logical, structural-functional). Results: some results of the Union construction have been summarized; problems have been identified; proposals on deepening the integration processes and improving the legal and institutional aspects of the Union State have been made. Conclusions: the lines of Russian and Belarusian nations have traditionally intertwined, the cultures have mutually enriched each other, and economies have been mutually complementary. Therefore, the course for integration that our states held after the collapse of the Soviet Union was rather expectable. However, 20 years of integration did not result in the enactment of the Union State Constitutional Act, but even raised more questions about the future of the Union. At the present stage, it seems essential to define the ideological concept of the Union State. Using the present institutional capabilities of the Union State, i.e. by means of adopting regulations through national parliaments, it is proposed to eliminate obstacles that arise in the field of ensuring equal rights for citizens of Belarus and Russia in social and labour relations, education, health and migration. It is necessary to amend currently unfeasible clauses of the Treaty. At the same time, the focus should be on implementing the provisions that were supposed to have been fulfilled by now.