Former Secretary of State of the Union State Grigory Rapota explained the long time for making decisions on the integration of Russia and Belarus bureaucracy in both countries. It quotes the publication “Sputnik Belarus.”
According to the ex-official, and Moscow, and Minsk make every effort to overcome the established practices, but there are objective circumstances that do not allow to speed up this process. “Nevertheless, two states with all their ministries and departments make decisions on one issue,” the rape explained.
He noted that now Rossi and Belarus are jointly implementing 14 programs under the integration agreement, four of them will be completed until the end of 2021. In total, for 22 years of the existence of the Allied State, both parties were able to fulfill 62 programs, half of which fell on the defense sector.
previously became known that Belarus plans to complete economic integration with Russia by January 1, 2022. In particular, it is planned to create general markets for energy resources and transport, unify tax and customs legislation, as well as go to a single industrial and agricultural policy.
In 2019, when initially planned to complete the integration, a number of protests were held against deepening cooperation with Russia. Then the president Alexander Lukashenko repeatedly stated the need to conduct multi-vector policies and build an independent country. He regularly complained about the “Imperial Spirits” of Russia, criticizing the project of integration within the framework of the Allied State.
After the start of mass protests in the country, he softened the rhetoric and proposed to deepen economic and military integration with Moscow, but from proposals to enter into Russia or to create new supranational authorities refused. “The world has changed so much that it would be just stupid to even work in this direction,” said Lukashenko.