‘It will always be major strategic ally’. Lukashenka about further integration with ‘our Russia’


Alyaksandr Lukashenka at Belarusian People’s Congress. Minsk, 11 February 2021.
Photo: president.gov.by

In the course of today’s Belarusian People’s Congress, Alyaksandr Lukashenka expressed readiness to deepen Belarus-Russia integration in a staged manner and ‘on the basis of equality of the two Union State members’.

According to him, this process implies ‘complete preservation of the sovereignty of both countries without the development of any new supranational bodies’.

“The whole system of the Union State bodies has been created, and it is viable, it cannot be scrapped. That is the answer. Let us go this way and see what our people will say. Maybe they will say that this integration is not enough and suggest moving on. We however cannot jump over stages, cannot overstrain the situation both in Russia and Belarus,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes Lukashenka.

It is the very format that will allow for ‘making huge steps towards integration with Russia’, the politician believes.

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In his opinion, the two states should create a ‘level playing field’ for economic entities so that their cooperation could develop further. At the same time, Lukashenka stressed that Belarusians had never been ‘sponges’, and Belarus would never become a satellite country waiting with open arms for subsidies and loans in exchange for sacrificing its own principles.

Relations with the European Union, China, other are important for Belarus, but ‘our Russia’ will always be the major strategic ally, he said.

“In these circumstances only together we will manage to maintain stability in our countries. The stable future of the region, the state of peace or war in the region depend on the joint efforts of Belarus and Russia. Everything will depend on our unity with Russia,” Lukashenka added.

As reported earlier, the Kremlin might grant a new loan ($3 bn – $3.5 bn) to Belarus soon.

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