Events

MINSK, 29 April (BelTA) – Belarus will not lose its independence in the Eurasian Economic Union. The statement was made by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko in his address to the nation and the parliament on 29 April, BelTA has learned.

“Our opponents are trying to scare us by saying that Belarus will lose its independence once the country is part of the integration association. Such claims are absolutely groundless. You can see that,” stressed the head of state.

“We believe that regional economic integration is one of the key factors meant to improve the stability of the national economy while the global economic system is unstable. Our work in the Eurasian Economic Union is shaped with this in mind,” said Alexander Lukashenko.

The President remarked that Belarus’ participation in Eurasian integration processes as a founding country gives huge advantages. “We have acquired some economic dividends. I am not going to reiterate them. Certainly, getting advantages in the Eurasian Economic Union goes hand in hand with stronger competition for our enterprises, the need to get them adapted to conditions of a more open economy. When the treaty was signed, we remarked that the Belarusian side will attentively follow the implementation of the arrangements and will monitor how exemptions are removed within the framework of transition periods. Time has proven the correctness of the approach,” said the head of state.

In his words, the removal of barriers in mutual trade, the removal of restrictions on the flow of commodities and services are naturally a painful process for any country. “Issues concerning energy resources, transport, financial services and some other things have always been resolved through tensions in all the integration associations known today, including the European Union. But if we declare that there is no alternative to integration, then we should achieve that on equal terms,” stressed Alexander Lukashenko.