MINSK, 4 July (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia have succeeded in building equal relations within the Union State, while the West can only impose its will, Aleksandr Dyukov, Director of the Russian Historical Memory Foundation, said at the roundtable “Independence of the Republic of Belarus: Special importance of sovereignty in the face of current challenges”, BelTA informs.
“Interaction between countries depends on cooperation models they are used to. Interaction between Belarus and Russia was well developed back in the Soviet times. Belarus knew how to communicate with the center and at the same time retained a significant share of sovereignty, which was officially formalized in regulatory and constitutional documents. The assumption that the USSR was a unitary state is not entirely correct. There was still some leeway in interaction between Moscow and Minsk, and Minsk was able to act on its own in many respects,” Aleksandr Dyukov said.
He stressed that the two countries have preserved their ability to maintain cooperation. That is why Belarus and Russia are members of the Union State that serves the interests of ordinary people. This model of interaction implies economic cooperation, low energy tariffs and transparent borders.
“As for the model promoted by the West, it resembles the colonial rule and has been successfully practiced for a long time. Now this neo-colonial model is a completely customary way for the West to interact with other countries. This model helps the West to push for its interests. It is not surprising that the West sticks to the model that works the best for it and fits it in all the ways,” the director of the fund concluded.
