The European Parliament for the first time openly condemned the integration of Russia and Belarus
On October 7, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in connection with the internal political situation in Belarus, as well as the migration crisis that arose on its borders with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The document is notable for the fact that in it Strasbourg for the first time openly condemned the integration processes between Moscow and Minsk on the creation of the Union State.
In total, the resolution (it has no legal force, but only demonstrates the example of the European Union in relation to the situation) contains about 50 points. One of them directly condemns the ongoing negotiations between Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin on the preparation of road maps and further strengthening of the integration of the two countries.
“The European Parliament considers this a violation of the sovereignty of Belarus, since the Belarusian people are deprived of the right to determine the future of their country; if Russia continues its current policy towards Belarus, the EU will need additional containment measures towards Russia, ”the document says.
Strasbourg names the progressive militarization of Belarus as one of the consequences of the integration of the two countries. The European Parliament asked the EU institutions for regular reports on the facts of “Kremlin interference in the life of Belarus.”
“West-2021”, Minsk and Moscow jointly held in September, demonstrate “the offensive position of Russia and its determination to use its capabilities for hostile purposes.”
The European Parliament of the two countries established a training center for the Air Force and Air Defense in Grodno, Belarus, just 15 km from the Polish border. Strasbourg is very worried about the purchase of Russian weapons worth $ 1 billion by Belarus, as well as the so-called unified defense system, which allows the announcement of Moscow and Minsk after Lukashenko’s visit to Russia on September 9. “It represents another step towards the unification of Russian troops in Belarus,” the resolution says.
According to European politicians, “Lukashenko will continue to compromise the sovereignty of Belarus in exchange for additional support from Russia.”
In other paragraphs of the resolution, Strasbourg declares that it does not consider Lukashenka the legitimate leader of the country, condemns his policies, violations of human rights in the country, and release the oppositionists and participants of peaceful protests detained over the past year. The European Parliament did not forget about the May incident with the RyanAir flight, during which the editor-in-chief of Nexta, Roman Protasevich, was detained.
State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev named a document adopted in Europe by interference in the affairs of two sovereign countries. He noted that the European Parliament should be engaged in the development and strengthening of ties within the EU.
“There is no reason to believe that according to the requirements of the European parliamentarians for the plans and strategic tasks that define themselves Russia and Belarus as independent and sovereign states.”
– he declared.
Russia and Belarus signed the Treaty on the Union State in 1999. The active phase of negotiations on this process has been going on for the past three years. They will result in a supranational entity with a single political, economic, military, currency and cultural space. At the moment, only a single customs zone and a free trade zone have been implemented.
The last talks on the mutual integration of the two countries were held on September 9 in Moscow. Lukashenko and Putin agreed on all 28 major programs for deepening integration processes, agreed to unite the oil and electricity markets, on equal rights for business entities of the two countries within the Union State. In addition, a transition to a unified industrial policy, general access to government procurement and government orders has been agreed.
Both in Moscow and in Minsk he repeatedly declares that it is not about Russia’s takeover of Belarus, or vice versa. Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the idea of the Union State is to maximize mutual integration, which would be in the interests of the population of the countries.