Events

Ambassador: Belarus, Russia will need to update integration road maps

Vladimir Semashko. An archive photo

MOSCOW, 2 April (BelTA) – The integration road maps developed by Belarus and Russia last year will need to be brought up to date due to the missed deadlines, Belarus’ Ambassador to Russia Vladimir Semashko said in an interview to Russia’s Rossiyskaya Gazeta, BelTA has learned.

“Last year Belarus and Russia did an impressive amount of work. An updated plan of actions to implement the Union State Treaty was prepared and initialed by the heads of government. Sectoral ministries and agencies developed 30 road maps for the formation of common and unified markets of the Union State. Their adoption and implementation would have become a serious step forward in all areas of integration,” the diplomat said.

Vladimir Semashko added, however, that by the time the road maps were finalized one of the main conditions of the Belarusian side had not been met. This was the settlement of all relevant issues of bilateral cooperation in 2020. “Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko has repeatedly emphasized that the signing of all new integration agreements is possible only in the form of a package principle. Thus, the absence of any progress in energy issues, elimination of barriers and the creation of equal conditions for economic entities without unilateral exemptions and restrictions made it impossible to sign the prepared package of documents,” the ambassador said.

According to the diplomat, today the governments of the two countries are coming to certain agreements to settle the situation that has developed in our relations in early 2020. “This is a good signal. The settlement of problematic issues in the bilateral cooperation creates preconditions for revising the consideration of the documents to deepen our integration,” the diplomat said.

"It is already obvious that road maps will need to be updated as the preset deadlines for their implementation were too short. For example, uniform legislation in a number of areas should have been provided by the mid 2020. Today it is clear that this will not be done in time. The situation that has been recently developing in our region and the world as a whole makes us rethink some elements of cooperation and adjust them to the current realities,” said Vladimir Semashko.

print version

make home page

add to bookmarks