Lukashenko in favor of expanding CIS zone of influence

It is necessary to expand the CIS zone of influence and to maintain unity while being members in larger organizations, Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the CIS summit in Bishkek on 13 October, BelTA reports.

Speaking about expanding the CIS zone of influence, Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “Representatives of various international organizations participate in many meetings of the Commonwealth bodies, and today's adoption of documents on the observer and partner status in the CIS will pave the way for legal regulation of such relations.”

“Belarus has always supported the alignment of activities of international integration associations that have similar goals and objectives. The basic condition is providing mutual support and not creating obstacles. I believe that the Commonwealth member states may be interested in considering other cooperation formats in such important areas as e-commerce, digital technologies, access to public procurement, reduction of roaming tariffs and many other areas,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.

He is confident that partners are interested in cooperation within the framework of the SCO and BRICS, implementation of high-tech projects, development of new logistics routes to deliver goods to the far arc countries, including the active promotion of the North-South corridor, close coordination of efforts to ensure food security for the most vulnerable countries. It is necessary to promote such areas of activity without fear of falling under secondary sanctions of the West.

Aleksandr Lukashenko highlighted the new trend associated with the development of such large international organizations as the SCO and BRICS. “Of course, these are organizations of the future. But you see some backpedaling there. Indeed, the level of integration is higher when it comes to the EAEU and the CIS,” the head of state noted. “What if we were part of the SCO and BRICS as a single organization, would that weaken our positions? No. And I am sure that Russia needs to be more active there, without looking at what the Americans or the West do and want. Russia should be a linchpin member of our association - the CIS. We must strive to act as a single organization in BRICS and the SCO. We have a more advanced integration in politics, economy, and so on.

“Our common commitment allows us to consistently build up cooperation in all areas, despite new unprecedented challenges. By and large, these challenges prompted us to get our act together, look at the situation in a new way, and find solutions that were on the surface. Today's results speak for themselves,” added the Belarusian leader.