MINSK, 4 December (BelTA) – Belarus' presidency in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) should give an impulse to further development of the union. Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich made the relevant statement during the final meeting of the seventh session of the sixth-convocation upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament on 4 December, BelTA has learned.
Mikhail Myasnikovich said: “On 1 January 2020 it will be five years since the Eurasian Economic Union Treaty was signed. Belarus' presidency in Eurasian Economic Union bodies in 2020 should give an impulse to the development of this regional association. The task has been set by the president of Belarus. The Eurasian Economic Union should become a full-value economic union with equal terms for all the participants. We will have to do a lot of work to establish a common market without exemptions and restrictions. It is necessary to enhance the prestige of the Eurasian Economic Union, bolster its role in the social and economic development of the member states.”
In his words, the international agenda of the outgoing Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus has been intensive. It was the first time Minsk had hosted major international parliamentary events such as sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Central European Initiative and the Bureau of the Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP), an international forum of national coordinators in charge of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Forums of regions of Belarus and Russia have been traditionally held under the aegis of the Council of the Republic and the Federation Council. Dozens of major commercial contracts and cooperation agreements were signed during them. Minsk also hosted the 1st Forum of Regions of Belarus and Uzbekistan. The Council of the Republic helped organize the Belarusian-Polish business forum Good Neighborliness 2019. All these events helped bolster international relations with our partners, enhance the role of interparliamentary cooperation,” the speaker noted.
Mikhail Myasnikovich stressed that the current session was taking place on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State of Belarus and Russia. “The Council of the Republic did everything it could to advance integration taking into account national interests and in strict compliance with the principles the treaty specifies,” he added.
