The Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) has lashed out at Alyaksandr Lukashenka over his plans to form a Eurasian Economic Union with Russia and Kazakhstan.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the opposition party criticized the authorities for their "risky and economically unsound policy that has resulted in the humiliating surrender of part of the country's national, political and economic sovereignty for the sake of so-called supranational integration bodies controlled fully by Russia."
Belarus’ further integration with Russia and other post-Soviet states can "completely destroy the independence of our state" as the country will dissolve in the future Eurasian Economic Union described by Russia’s political elite as a great state of the Russian people, the party said.
The BPF said that Belarus’ move to form the Customs Union with Kazakhstan and Russia had been among the major reasons behind this year's all-embracing economic crisis in the country, warning that its participation in the Common Economic Zone project with the states would worsen further the economic situation, ruin private businesses and state manufacturing enterprises.
Moreover, Belarus’ integration with post-Soviet states can "diminish its prospects for integration into the world’s economic and political community, as well as affect its participation in pan-European projects such as the Eastern Partnership, which contradicts the country’s national interests," the BPF warned.
It added that its statement marked the beginning of a large-scale campaign against Belarus’ participation in the Eurasian Economic Union.
"The party also opposes Belarus’ participation in the Union State of Belarus and Russia, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Eurasian Economic Community and the Customs Union, because this runs counter to its national interests," said BPF Chairman Alyaksey Yanukevich.
