BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
15/02/2008
Belarusian Lawmaker Says Belarus, Russia See Integration In Different Ways
Syarhey Kastsyan, deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the lower chamber of the Belarusian legislature, told RFE/RL's Belarus Service on February 14 that Belarus and Russia envisage the integration of the two states in different ways. Kastsyan was commenting on the recent announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the building of the union state between Russia and Belarus remains a priority of Russian foreign policy. "We are ready to go as far as it is desired by our Belarusian partners," Putin told the press conference. Putin said that the integration should be conducted first of all in the economic area, and he suggested that "the transition to the Russian ruble as a single currency" would bring benefits to Belarus's economy. Kastsyan said that it was Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka who five years ago said that Belarus is ready to move toward building the union state as far as can be done by the Russian leadership. "By saying this, we had in mind other things than the Russian leadership has," Kastsyan said. "They put forward conditions and tell Belarus to join Russia on the status of an autonomous republic or a province. We understand this [issue] in a different way." AM
Source:
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/02/3-cee/cee-150208.asp
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