ABSTRACT
The year 2004 was announced Year of the Belarusian Culture in the Russian Federation, while 2005 was planned to be the Year of Russian Culture in Belarus in return. This large-scale campaign across Russia included tours of Belarusian theaters, arts expositions, film festivals and similar events. A major incident spoiled the idyll that established in the Russian-Belarusian relations in the beginning of 2004. The conflict is of particular interest because it unfolded a month before the Russian presidential election. Despite his evidently high approval rating before the election, the party in power used disproportionate efforts to ensure the victory to the incumbent. In fact, the acceleration of the integration processes depended directly on the adoption of the Constitutional Act, elections to the Union parliament and the introduction of a common currency. Alexander Lukashenka reemphasized that Belarus would follow the letter and the spirit of the signed agreements and that the Constitutional Act should be a step further toward integration.
