We'll have to hurry

A referendum on the prospects for building a Union State of Russia and Belarus may well take place in December 2006, said State Secretary of the Union State Pavel Borodin. However, the organizers will have to hurry. Otherwise, the event will have to be postponed for more than a year. The Basic Law may become an obstacle to the long-awaited event. According to the Russian Constitution, a referendum is prohibited from being held less than 12 months before presidential or parliamentary elections. And elections to the State Duma are scheduled for December 2, 2007.