BELARUS….

Romance has its place, but President Alyaksandr Lukashenka wants to get the pre-nup right before there is any consummation of the Russia-Belarus union. “Economics, not politics, must form the basis of a future union treaty,” he said last week, insisting that Russia treat Belarusan products and firms like products and firms of Russia. That means real duty-free trade, including an end to taxation and harassment of Belarusan trucks entering Russia, and gas and oil sales to Belarus at internal Russian prices. Lukashenka also cited earlier agreements on “equalization of social guarantees” to defend a proposal to double Belarusan military pay and benefits at Russian expense.