Almost half of Russians believe that there is no need for Belarus and Russia to be joined as part of the Union State, a proposed bloc that would unite both countries, and more than 80 percent have rejected the idea of Belarus becoming a part of Russia as a result of the merger, a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center ((VTsIOM) showed on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd April, 2019) Almost half of Russians believe that there is no need for Belarus and Russia to be joined as part of the Union State, a proposed bloc that would unite both countries, and more than 80 percent have rejected the idea of Belarus becoming a part of Russia as a result of the merger, a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center ((VTsIOM) showed on Tuesday.
A total of 48 percent of respondents said that it was enough for the two neighbors to have good relations rather than have them united under the Union State.
Only 17 percent of those polled said that Belarus should become a Russian region if both countries were to forge such a supranational union.
Moreover, more than half of respondents 51 percent had never heard about the Union State of Russia and Belarus until taking the poll, and only 10 percent were well-informed about the subject, the survey showed.
The poll was carried out among 1,600 respondents by phone on January 15.
Moscow and Minsk signed a treaty establishing the Union State of Russia and Belarus, which sets up the legal basis for integrating the two countries with each other, in 1999. This accord was preceded by the Commonwealth of Belarus and Russia, established on April 2, 1996, and the Union of Belarus and Russia a year later.
