REAL INTEGRATION
THERE IS STILL PLACE LEFT IN THE ACHIEVEMENTS’ POOL It happened so that Belarus ends its presidentship in the CIS on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the organization. This anniversary is celebrated by the Commonwealth of Independent States, without exaggeration, against the background of a specific international situation, when it is very important to preserve unity. Alexander Lukashenko also aimed his counterparts toward this, as chairman moderating the discussion of the regular summit, which was held in an online format. Ye s , on ly t wo mont h s rema i n before Belarus completes its responsible m ission. Su m mi ng up t he resu lts of Minsk chairmanship in the CIS, Alexander Lukashenko, in particular, drew attention to the key aspects of interaction in the Commonwealth. Such as the development of a common economic space, the expansion and enhancement of the efficiency of mutual trade. The President of Belarus also stressed that significant efforts were directed at further development of cooperation in youth policy, culture, science, education, health care, sports, tourism, social protection. In general, the agenda of the summit included such important topics as the development of interaction in the field of biological security, in the spheres of migration, protection of the electoral rights of citizens and guarantees of the electoral sovereignty of the CIS countries. Alexander Lukashenko noted that the updated Treaty on Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction fully meets the requirements of today. By the way, the draft Agreement on formation of the Council of Presidents of the Supreme (Higher) Courts of the Commonwealth countries is also aimed at expansion of functions and
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БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021
capabilities of the judicial system, taking into account modern realities. The President of Belarus assured his counterparts: – Belarus has been and remains an active participant in regional integration associations. And today we confirm this once again. Alexander Lukashenko also noted that this meeting is significant, as it is held on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the CIS. – There are different points of view about the termination of the existence of the Soviet Union, or more precisely, its forced collapse. Everyone is well aware of my negative attitude towards these events. But in that critical situation, the creation of such integration, one might say, "dome" that sheltered the former Soviet republics from the inevitable chaos and economic collapse, was most likely the right decision. Of course, over three decades, the Commonwealth has gone through a difficult path of formation and has become a regional organization recognized by the international community. The President of Belarus pointed out obvious advantages of the CIS: – Universality, voluntariness, equality are fundamental principles that helped to contain many destructive processes and stabilize economies, to maintain
trade ties between our countries.
For economic consolidation The topic, which was one of the priorities in the framework of the chairmanship of Belarus in the CIS, is the cooperation of economies. It is to this aspect that the states of the Commonwealth intend to continue to pay the most serious attention. However, Alexander Lukashenko highlighted such an equally important point: – One of the key achievements of the CIS is the preservation of close human contacts, trust-based political relations, multifaceted economic ties with a focus on further integration. In conditions of instability in the world, the cooperation of mutually complementary economies of the CIS states is of decisive importance. The subject of discussion at the summit was the topic of sanctions pressure, which is applied by the West contrary to the norms of international law. In this regard, Alexander Lukashenko proposed to take further real steps to unite efforts on joint protection of interests in the world market for strengthening the role and weight of the Commonwealth. The President of Belarus believes that in modern conditions it is advisable to take specific steps to combine regional integration processes:
