MINSK, 7 July (BelTA) – It is necessary to do maximum to unite Belarus with Russia while preserving sovereignty. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement as he met with Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “We are now working very actively in the Russian direction. Sovereignty and independence are sacred things. Interests of the Belarusian nation. But it has to be understood that Russia has global interests. Russia has its own views regarding Belarus' development. And it is right. Nowadays everyone understands what Belarus means for Russia and what Russia means for Belarus. We have to step it up in this regard, too. While preserving sovereignty and independence, we have to do maximum with regard to manufacturing cooperation in economy, with regard to our unity, unification. Everything has to be done so that no one could blame us for failing to resolve some issues in relations with Russia.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that the relevant directions for advancing cooperation with Russia are sketched out by Union State programs. “All of it has to be fleshed out into laws. And, I emphasize one more time, while seeing our state as sovereign and independent in the future,” he said. “We are sufficiently smart, as I've said, in order to build normal relations with Russia.”
After the meeting with the head of state Chairman of the House of Representatives Vladimir Andreichenko told reporters that for the sake of overseeing the realization of 28 Union State programs the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia had increased the number of profile commissions up to 12 and responsibilities of each of them had been clearly stipulated. “We have already ratified a number of documents in the parliament, in particular, documents concerning customs affairs and accounting. Roughly 38% of the measures and projects stipulated by the 28 Union State programs have been implemented already,” the head of the lower chamber of the parliament noted.
