21.   And some see a threat from the authoritarian policies of Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, who this spring signed a vague union treaty with Russia.

22.   Asked about the parliamentary resolution on Saturday, Lukashenko said he did not believe the Russian Communists could come up with a better variant of a union treaty.

23.   Belarus and Russia signed a union treaty in December, but many questions remain about how it will be administered.

24.   Belarus and Russia have already signed a union treaty that pledged close cooperation in many areas, but stopped well short of creating a single state.

25.   Belarus and Russia plan to forge a political and economic union, signing a preliminary union treaty earlier this month.

26.   Belarus last spring signed a union treaty with Moscow.

27.   Belarus, a former Soviet republic, signed a union treaty with Russia earlier this year that calls for closer ties between the two neighbors.

28.   Five years ago, Belarus established a union treaty with Russia that provides for close political and economic ties.

29.   He and the Russian president signed a union treaty last April that calls for closer political and economic ties.

30.   His comments came at the opening of a panel created under the new union treaty, which further strengthens renewed ties between Russia and Belarus.