Belarus will not sign integration roadmaps with Russia if its sovereignty is threatened
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko © Natalya Fedosenko/TASS. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.
MINSK, Nov 18, 2019, TASS. Belarus will not sign integration roadmaps with Russia if they run counter to its constitution or threaten its sovereignty, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Sunday, TASS reported.
“Not a single will be approved and signed by me if it runs counter to the constitution and the fundamental principles of our society. And the most vital principles are sovereignty and independence of our state,” he stressed.
“The prime minister has already said that our position is as follows: if our key problems concerning hydrocarbon supplies, access to the markets for our commodity, the removal of barriers, etc. are not resolved no roadmaps can be signed,” he said.
He noted that when countries sought integration they wanted to gradually improve their economies. “And what are we having? They set conditions year after year. As a result, our economy sustains losses. Who needs such a union? So, our position is clear and the Russian president knows it. We are friends with his and I can tell it to him openly,” he said.
In his words, it is not a normal situation when being in union with Russia Belarus “is sustaining losses and conditions are worsening.” “It is not normal. So, when economy is concerned, we claim nothing and ask for nothing. We demand equal conditions for economic entities, for people, as we once agreed,” Lukashenko said. “It will be a real union in this case.”.
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