AFP: In Minsk to protest against the Union with Russia came about 1000 people
According to the French Agency AFP (AFP< / span>), thousands of Belarusians took part in an unauthorized demonstration on Saturday against the prospect of closer Union with Russia.
According to the press service of the Kremlin, the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia on Saturday to discuss "key issues in our bilateral relations, including prospects of deepening integration."
Indignant a potential deal, the protesters, mostly Belarusian youth, went to the government building in the capital Minsk, saying "this is not integration, it is the occupation" and "the President is selling our country."
Many waved the flags of the EU or the opposition. The police were at the scene and watched the demonstration, but no arrests were made.
Lukashenko, who is often called Europe's last dictator, has repeatedly denied the claims in the creation of closer integration with Moscow.
Not landlocked Belarus, sandwiched between Poland, Ukraine and Russia, is one of the main allies of Russia in Europe, although relations are often strained.
According to the study, the Minsk Academy of Sciences, published this week, only about 49.9% of Belarusians want their country to remain fully independent of Moscow, while supporters of unification with common political institutions, there were 36 per cent and 7.7 per cent want full unification of the two States.