Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 1 April (BelTA) – Belarus upholds the idea of integration at varying speed in the post-Soviet space, Foreign Minister of Belarus Vladimir Makei said in an interview with the RIA Novosti and BelTA news agencies.

“All integration projects involving Belarus are a priority for us. All these projects complement each other in a way. Each of them deals with specific matters and cooperation areas. Each state that considers joining any integration project seeks to get certain benefits, dividends from its participation. This is the very essence of integration,” the Foreign Minister said.

In his words, the CIS, for example, was a kind of shock-absorber after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It helped restore broken links between economic operators. “The CIS is still one of the biggest integration unions, a major integration platform on the post-Soviet space,” Vladimir Makei said.

The Foreign Minister noted that Belarus and Russia were the first to realize the need for a higher level integration. As a result, the Commonwealth of Belarus and Russia was established in 1996; the Treaty on the Creation of a Union State of Russia and Belarus was signed in 1999. “Now the Union State is the pinnacle of political cooperation, economic and military ties, mutual social protection of citizens, humanization of legislation,” Vladimir Makei said.

“Many countries have been closely watching the Union State. It seems to me that many were scared by the notion of “the union state”. They saw the ghost of the former Soviet Union looming behind it, something they did not want to happen. The idea to set up a new integration union – the Eurasian Economic Community – was put forward. A greater number of states joined this integration project,” Vladimir Makei said.

“We see that the level of cooperation between the members of these integration unions is different. However, we are in favor of integration at varying speed. Each state has the right to choose the scale of involvement that suits its needs best. Our task is to make sure these integration associations complement each other and inter-connect with each other,” the Foreign Minister said.