MINSK, 14 December (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia will continue stepping up integration interaction, BelTA learned from Oleg Gaidukevich, a member of the Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, Deputy Chairman of the International Affairs Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus.
The MP said: “We see what is going on around Belarus and Russia and the region as a whole – it is unprecedented pressure. Geopolitical confrontation is on the rise. Foreign policy and the coordination of efforts of Belarus and Russia to protect national interests are extremely important. Because we see illegal sanctions against Belarus. I am talking about double and triple standards. Might makes right. This is the kind of international politics they are trying to make us accept. But Belarus and Russia have always pursued a peaceful policy. We've never threatened anyone and have never stood in anyone's way. We brought nothing but peace to places where anything was happening. This is why it is now extremely important to regulate and coordinate all these matters of external interaction between us.”
In his words, Belarusian and Russian MPs regularly communicate. “We get in touch with members of the State Duma of Russia every day. We may argue about economy, about many things but we've never failed to support each other at some international platform. It has been like that and it will continue like that,” the MP stressed. “It is extremely important now to counteract this illegal pressure with truth. Lies must always be counteracted with truth. There is no other way. This is why we will continue stepping up our interaction. We will pass resolutions, we will arrange things so that our interparliamentary ties would grow stronger and our interparliamentary bodies would play a bigger role.”
There are 13 items on the agenda of the videoconference session of the Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia. In particular, there are plans to discuss progress in implementing the 2020-2021 program on concerted actions in the area of foreign policy of the member states of the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State of Belarus and Russia. Participants of the session are also supposed to discuss a draft plan of the commission's work in 2021. The participation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia in international events will be discussed. The draft budget of the Union State of Belarus and Russia for 2021 will be discussed as well as the execution of the Union State budget in 2019 and 2020.
