MINSK. May 31 (Interfax) - The Belarusian House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Belarusian parliament, has ratified an agreement with Russia on a regional group of forces, the House's press service said on Wednesday.
"The bill was passed in a single reading," it said.
The document envisions "amendments to the preamble of the agreement between the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation on the common provision of regional military security dated December 19, 1997," the press service said. It said, the preamble includes a reference to the treaty on establishing the Union State of December 8, 1999, which is warranted by the termination of the treaty on a union between Belarus and Russia of April 2, 1997, from the moment the treaty on establishing the Union State took effect on January 26, 2000.
The document details the norms of the agreement on a regional group of Russian and Belarusian troops/forces, "envisioning the possibility of stationing formations and military units of the Russian component of this group and elements of the Russian Armed Forces' military infrastructure for ensuring their functioning."
After the Council of the Republic, the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament, approves the document, it will be sent to President Alexander Lukashenko to be signed into law.