Opinions & Interviews

VERONA, 19 October (BelTA) – China, Japan, India, and a number of other countries keep an eye on how economic integration processes in the Eurasian space advance with interest. The opinion was voiced by State Secretary of the Union State of Belarus and Russia Grigory Rapota on the sidelines of the 10^th Eurasian Economic Forum in Verona, Italy on 19 October, BelTA has learned.

Grigory Rapota said: “As far as Europeans are concerned, the European Union would still love to advance bilateral relations with every Eurasian Economic Union member state. However, the European Union shows no desire to work together with the EAEU as a whole.”

Grigory Rapota believes it is necessary to think about the situation. “It is necessary to critically look from both sides at ourselves and at Europeans. It is necessary to understand their motivation and find some points of congruence,” the official is convinced.

Sharing his impressions of the first day of the 10^th Eurasian Economic Forum, Grigory Rapota noted they were most favorable.

“Ten years ago when the event was just starting, the forum was in essence bilateral, it was a Russian-Italian forum. Then the number of participants increased considerably. Now the house barely has any seats to spare… Interest in this Verona platform is great and I am glad of it. It is particularly important that this is an interest in opportunities for advancing versatile cooperation. The venues where relations between the East and the West are so thoroughly and professionally discussed are few and far between these days,” stressed the state secretary of the Union State of Belarus and Russia.