Opinions & Interviews

BURABAY, 16 October (BelTA) – The Commonwealth of Independent States should get down to dealing with serious problems in the post-Soviet space. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the statement during the restricted-attendance session of the CIS Heads of State Council on 16 October, BelTA has learned.

Alexander Lukashenko said: “The CIS should start discussing serious problems in the post-Soviet space and stimulate those, who are responsible for their resolution, as much as possible. Without it our cooperation will slide and will fade away.”

The head of state emphasized that the agenda of the CIS Heads of State Council session included wishes and statements. “There is no sense in blaming Kazakhstan or Russia or Belarus for the CIS’s poor effectiveness today,” said Alexander Lukashenko. In his words, the CIS heads of state acknowledge the fact that the Commonwealth of Independent States is an important platform for negotiations that has to live on.

The Commonwealth of Independent States will be respected and needed only when it addresses key issues of vital importance, continued the Belarus President. As an example he mentioned conflicts in Nagorny Karabakh, Transdniestria, and Ukraine. “We bashfully avoid these problems,” noted Alexander Lukashenko. “It may seem we are accustomed to the situation. We expect Americans, the European Union, or someone else to come here and say how this problem can be dealt with or to resolve the problem for us.”

New formations have emerged in the post-Soviet space where the existing problems can be discussed more profoundly, noted Alexander Lukashenko. The number includes the Eurasian Economic Union, the Union State of Belarus and Russia as the most advanced form of integration, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and other entities. “Recently we’ve been leaning towards bilateral relations, we’ve been actually prioritizing them. In other words, quite many vivid trends have emerged in the post-Soviet space that encourage us to adapt the CIS to the present-day reality right away,” pointed out Alexander Lukashenko.