NATO Growth Pushes Russia to Belarus Deal

MOSCOW — In an apparent reaction to NATO’s expansion plans, Russia said Monday that it is urging Belarus to take new steps toward a union of the two former Soviet republics.

The two Slavic neighbors signed a union treaty in April at the initiative of Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin, but the goal of political and economic integration was shelved in Moscow after Yeltsin’s reelection in July.

Now the Russian leader has revived the idea in a letter urging his Belarussian counterpart, Alexander G. Lukashenko, to set up binational agencies to coordinate his government’s policies with Moscow’s.

The letter also suggests the idea of a voter referendum in both countries on unification “in one form or another,” Yeltsin spokesman Sergei V. Yastrzhembsky said.

Lukashenko quickly agreed, saying, “If Boris Nikolayevich is ready [for unification], you know my position; I have long been ready.”

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei M. Shakhrai said the new effort is driven by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s plans to accept three former Soviet bloc nations--Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic--as members of the Western defense alliance this year.

Russian officials have warned for years that NATO’s expansion toward the Russian border could revive the Cold War and jeopardize agreements with the West to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles.

Shakhrai told reporters that “real unification between Russia and Belarus” would be “the most effective answer to NATO’s expansion.”

Western leaders, fearing the revival of a hostile empire like the Soviet Union, are wary of Russia’s efforts to dominate its neighbors. But Lukashenko, who was elected in 1994 on a promise of closer ties with Moscow, has referred warmly to Yeltsin as a “big brother.”

Lukashenko has given the Russian army leases on two bases and a role in guarding Belarus’ borders. Even without further unification of Russia and Belarus, their alliance, coupled with NATO’s expansion, could make the Poland-Belarus border a focal point of tension.

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Yeltsin’s letter raised the possibility of a common currency as well as unified tax laws and energy systems. His spokesman said, however, that two sovereign governments would be maintained.

Some analysts in Moscow said Yeltsin’s initiative may have been aimed as much at delaying Lukashenko’s planned referendum on unification as at stalling NATO.

Lukashenko had called for a vote in March. But Yeltsin’s letter said the two nations need “a relatively developed system of [joint] administrative bodies” before any referendum so it could start to function quickly if voters approve.

Russian officials have good reasons to slow down unification--an idea popular with voters in both countries. Belarus has one of the poorest and least-reformed economies in the former Soviet Union.

There is also the possibility that if the two nations merged fully, Lukashenko would become a contender to succeed Yeltsin, commentator Vitaly Trubetzkoi said on Russia’s Independent Television.