Moldova moots union with Russia, Belarus

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, APRIL 16. Moldova's new Communist President, Mr. Vladimir Voronin, confirmed reports that his country was mooting joining the Russia-Belarus union.

Mr. Voronin told reporters after talks with the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, in the Kremlin on Monday that question of accession was on the agenda. We must weigh the option carefully and we want to know whether Russia and Belarus would like us to join their union, the Moldovan leader said. However, he said the issue was not being discussed during his current visit to Moscow.

In a joint communique issued after their meeting, the two Presidents confined themselves to expressing readiness to cooperate in the framework of the CIS (the Commonwealth of Independent States) in efficient use of the available potential for deepening bilateral and multilateral economic cooperation.

Russia is the first country Mr. Voronin is visiting after his election as President on April 4 in the wake of the Communist sweeping victory in parliamentary elections last month. Moldova's Communists had made accession to the Russia- Belarus union one of their main election campaign promises. Russia and Belarus have agreed to move towards a union state and plan to introduce a common currency by 2005.

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Section  : International
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