Events

6 Jul 2025

'No one is driving anyone anywhere’. What Lukashenko said about Eurasian integration 14 years ago

An archive photo

MINSK, 6 July (BelTA) – When speaking about the Eurasian integration in 2011, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “We are not sacrificing our sovereignty.” The Common Economic Space of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan was launched on 1 January 2012. In a new episode of BelTA’s YouTube project “How It Was”, we recall the most significant events of 2012.

Aleksandr Lukashenko pursued the policy towards an alliance with Russia since the first days of his presidency. But the Belarusian leader paid no less attention to integration processes throughout the Eurasian space. Not everyone was happy, though. Hillary Clinton, who served as U.S. Secretary of State in 2012, called the integration process “the re-Sovietization of the region.” The West did not want the rapprochement of the former Soviet republics.

The president spoke about this quite clearly and urged no to make excuses to anyone.

“Attempts to disrupt this process are ongoing. It's clear who is behind them. But we put all this aside and clearly stated that we are not sacrificing our sovereignty, and no one is driving anyone anywhere," Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “I think that Russia is making too many excuses for nothing, apologizing for its initiatives. We're doing this because it's beneficial for all the three countries.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko, Dmitry Medvedev and Nursultan Nazarbayev sign the Declaration on Eurasian Economic Integration, November 2011

Aleksandr Lukashenko attends the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, June 2025

The recent EAEU summit in Minsk showed that the decision was right. Now even those countries that are geographically far from Eurasia are eyeing the union. Cuba, for example.

While Eurasian integration was gaining momentum, the Union State was producing tangible results. In August, the president laid a capsule with a message to future generations at the construction site of the Belarusian NPP.
Construction site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, August 2012

Aleksandr Lukashenko inspects the model of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, August 2012

Aleksandr Lukashenko during a ceremony of laying a capsule with a message to future generations at the construction site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, August 2012

In addition to the status of a nuclear power, Belarus received the status of a space power. In 2012, a Belarusian satellite went into space from Baikonur. The camera, by the way, still shoots our planet (and Belarus!), although it has the service life of only five years.

Preparatory work before the launch of a cluster of satellites from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, July 2012

Launch of satellite cluster from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, July 2012

These are far from all the interesting and memorable events of 2012. Find out more in the new episode of our YouTube project “How it was”.