“Always exerts a shoulder”: Lukashenko declared that he is not ready to break relations with “brotherly Russia”

Minsk wants to establish good relations with Europe and the United States, but is not ready to sacrifice cooperation with Moscow for the sake of this, said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. So the president commented on the words of the head of the Latvian Foreign Ministry Edgar Rinkevich that Latvia is worried about the deepening of Russian-Belarusian integration.

“We want good relations with Western Europe, the European Union, the United States, understanding what the EU and America mean, but we will never break our relations, for any money, with fraternal Russia,” RIA Novosti quoted Lukashenko as saying.

The Belarusian leader also said that his rating in Russia exceeds 60%.

“Why should we look askance at this country, which in a difficult moment always provided us with a shoulder, but this does not mean that we can sacrifice our principal interests with regard to the West, East, China,” Lukashenko stressed.

Movement towards integration

The intensity of the implementation of joint initiatives between Russia and Belarus has been growing recently. This is due, in particular, to the actualization of the Union Treaty between the two countries against the background of the approaching of the 20th anniversary of its signing.

The presidents of both countries managed to agree on fundamental integration issues during the Forum of the Regions of Russia and Belarus, held from July 16 to 18 in St. Petersburg.

In particular, the Minister of Economy of Belarus Dmitry Krutoy said that the leaders of the countries agreed on issues of further integration by 80% during the event, but the remaining positions are of a fundamental nature.

Lukashenko then urged to remove all the accumulated problematic issues of the contract by December, when it will be celebrated 20 years from the moment of signing the Union Treaty of Russia and Belarus.

“What are we going to say on the 20th anniversary? There is nothing to say if we do not remove all the issues that exist and do not sign a program that will determine the strategy of our joint actions, ”BelTA quotes the Belarusian president.

At the same time, the authorities of both countries have no ideas about a complete merger of Russia and Belarus, said Vladimir Olenchenko, Senior Researcher at the Center for European Studies, IMEMO RAN, said.

“Of course, relations will develop, especially since both Russia and Belarus are interested in this. Only here it is necessary to clearly understand that the “union” is not the “one”. Many believe that they are synonymous, but in fact we are talking about the union of the two states. Now, both the Russian and the Belarusian side are working to update it, ”he believes.

Some integration steps are being taken now. According to the speaker of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, roaming between countries can be canceled by September. By this time, the creation of a single visa area can be agreed upon.

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In addition, restrictions on the importation of apples and pears into Russia have recently been lifted. This was reported on July 23 by the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance. Restrictions were introduced in April 2019 due to problems with the certification of products coming to Russia from Belarus through re-export.

The choice of allies

At the same time, Lukashenko often declares his desire to strengthen and develop dialogue with the United States and European structures. On July 22, the President of Belarus declared his readiness to strengthen the dialogue with the EU “not only on economic, but also political issues”.

“Belarus is ready for this,” BelTA quotes the words of the president.

In early July, in congratulating the American people on the occasion of Independence Day, he also called friendship with the United States "one of the priorities of the foreign policy of the Republic of Belarus."

Commenting on recent statements by Lukashenko, Professor at the Department of Comparative Political Science at the Peoples' Friendship University, Yury Pochta noted that Belarus still seeks to integrate with Russia.

“Lukashenko would like Belarus to have stable relations with Western Europe, with the EU and other structures, and for this it is making a whole series of efforts. It’s another thing that the West would like from the geopolitical point of view a break between Belarus and Russia, as has been done in relation to Ukraine and Georgia. But Lukashenko has with us a plan to create a unified state, and this plan is to a certain extent fulfilled. Lukashenko hesitates between two plans: integration with Europe and integration with Russia. There is a serious economic need for development with Russia, Europe in this regard can hardly offer anything seriously. For now, the priority is relations with our country, ”the expert notes.