MINSK, 28 November (BelTA) – The film “Time Chose Us” on the Belarus 1 TV channel showed how the symbolic boom barrier on the border between Belarus and Russia was removed in 1995, BelTA reports.
It was 26 May 1995. Minsk was gradually securing the status of an integration platform. The CIS summit gave the presidents of Belarus and Russia, Aleksandr Lukashenko and Boris Yeltsin, the opportunity to have a face-to-face conversation without journalists. This was another step towards building a union. The presidents discussed various scenarios.
First Assistant to the Belarusian President (1995-1998) Ural Latypov recalled that the leaders of Belarus and Russia then signed a joint statement on the completion of the first stage of the Customs Union.
“After signing, the Belarusian president said: “Boris Nikolayevich, let's go to the border and remove the symbolic boom barrier, so that everyone can see that there are no customs borders between us now.” They left for consultations. They came back and said: with great pleasure. But Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, the President of the Russian Federation, will not go to Redki. And Redki is the name of the border checkpoint where they were going to travel,” said Ural Latypov.
The Belarusian leader said that he would fly there alone and remove the customs post. But Boris Yeltsin entrusted this to Viktor Chernomyrdin, the then prime minister. The customs post was removed. A birch tree was planted on the border in memory of this landmark event.
“This is a truly good day, a happy day for me. Today, we can see the results of our work, the results of what we have achieved. This is an important event, a milestone,” Viktor Chernomyrdin noted in a conversation with journalists.
“I am happy today. For me, a fledgling politician, this is pure happiness. Viktor Stepanovich [Chernomyrdin] is the embodiment of what happened. He had been fighting for this for three years. I was moving in sync with him, but in a different position. And today, destiny has brought me to this great podium,” Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked.
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