Opinions & Interviews

MOSCOW, 24 December (BelTA) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is convinced that the Eurasian Economic Union should be an international organization. The Belarusian President made this statement at the session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on 24 December, BelTA has learnt.

Alexander Lukashenko noted that the work on the institutional part of the draft Eurasian Economic Union Treaty had already been completed. At the same time several sensitive issues had not been settled on the level of experts. The Belarusian President underlined that it hampers the progress.

Alexander Lukashenko noted that the number one question is whether the Union will be an international organization: “There is an opinion that it is too early to discuss the matter, because it is unclear how it will work,” the Belarusian leader said.

“I am convinced that the Union should be an international organization with the appropriate legal status. This status is crucial for the efficient operation of the Union. This status would be understandable to the international community and our citizens,” the Belarusian President underlined. The decision on that was passed in December 2012. According to Alexander Lukashenko, the progress might be threatened by unfavorable allegations of numerous opponents of the Eurasian integration outside the Customs Union.

Belarus urges a clear-cut distribution of powers within the Union and between the member states, the President emphasized. “The more specific we are while formalizing our functions, the fewer disputes we will have over the distribution of our responsibilities. Everybody agreed on the scope of reference of the Union. Now it is time to make the next step and set froth what fields the member states will be responsible for as part of the harmonized policy,” the Belarusian leader said.

Alexander Lukashenko deems it necessary to clearly define the legal effect and the hierarchy of the Union’s regulations. The Belarusian President believes that it is critical that the decisions of the Supreme Council and the Intergovernmental Council are not just political documents, but legally binding regulatory acts mandatory for all the signatories. In his opinion, this will ensure efficient operation and control over the work of the Eurasian Economic Commission. “Otherwise, the heads of state will not be able to abolish the decisions of the Eurasian Economic Council, which is nonsense,” the Belarusian President underlined.

Alexander Lukashenko drew attention to the fact that during the last meeting in Minsk the presidents of the Troika countries had agreed that the directors and deputy directors of the EEC directorates should hail from different states. The presidents instructed experts to work on the matter. “However, the work has made little headway, which hinders the development of the treaty. And overall, it is not okay when the decisions of the three presidents are not fulfilled,” the Belarusian head of state said.

A decision should be made on the location of the agencies of the Union. According to Alexander Lukashenko, the matter is a stumbling block. “It is understandable that each of the three states wants to be home to an integration agency. However, the Court and the Commission have been operating for a long time. It seems the organizational matters were settled a long time ago. Therefore, do we really need to raise this issue again and relocate the staff and the property? The question remains open. I believe that we need to close the chapter on it today,” the Belarusian leader said.