PRESIDENT DESCRIBES BELARUS AS MAIN DRIVING FORCE OF EURASIAN INTEGRATION

Belarusian television, Minsk
8 Aug 06

[Presenter] Belarus is the most consistent and active driving force of
Eurasian integration, [President] Alyaksandr Lukashenka said today at a conference
with newly appointed representative of Belarus to interstate bodies.

Priority tasks include the activation of our country’s role in integration processes
in the post-Soviet space.

[Correspondent] The most important directions of Belarus’s foreign policy
have been defined already at a recent conference with the diplomatic corps.

Integration processes in the post-Soviet space were described as a priority. The
discussion of the integration issue continued today on the practical and
specific level. The president met those who are expected to promote and defend
Belarus’s interests in interstate bodies. These are bodies of the
[Russian-Belarusian] union state, the EAEC [the Eurasian Economic Community of Russia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan] and the CSTO [the
Collective Security Treaty Organization of Belarus, Russia, Armenia,
Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan]. Belarus is the most consistent and active
driving force of Eurasian integration, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said and the results
of recent summits testify to this. But the integration effect should be even
bigger.

[Lukashenka] I would like you to remember all the time that you are
representative of Belarus to interstate bodies, above all. I would not like you to
become international officials, as they say, and forget that you represent the
country. And the most important thing is that you should deal with the most
specific issues, any issues that would facilitate the prosperity and revival of
our country’s economy and the improvement of people’s life.

[Correspondent] The newly appointed ambassador to Russia, Vasil Dalhalyow,
has been tasked with coordinating the activities by Belarus’s representative to
interstate bodies. The main priority has been and remains the creation of a
full-fledged union state, the president pointed out. It is necessary to press
for the timely and proper implementation of the decisions and agreements
needed here. The creation of a full-scale customs union is the main direction of
activities within the EAEC framework, the head of state stressed. Active
work aimed at increasing the efficiency of foreign political coordination should
be carried out within the CSTO framework. The main thing is to see our
country and its interests behind each line and letter, the president is convinced.

[At 1021 gmt today, the Belarusian news agency Belapan quoted Lukashenka as
saying that the EAEC member states’ economic, energy and human potential can
turn the EAEC into a major player in the international economic and political
arena and that it would be impossible without the establishment of a
full-scale customs union within the organization.]