BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

23/06/2006

Belarusian president says its time to implement concrete EurAsEC projects

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said it is necessary to step up efforts for filling EurAsEC integration processes with concrete projects. The EurAsEC includes Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The EurAsEC creation treaty was signed in Astana on October 10, 2000. The organization aims at promoting the creation of the common customs and economic space in the CIS. The coordination of WTO accession efforts of the member countries is another priority of EurAsEC. During an extended session of the EurAsEC Interstate Council the Belarusian leader underlined, "It is time to move on from concept formulation to the implementation of concrete projects within the EurAsEC framework. We are in favor of a wider utilization of Belarus' potential in the Community. And we are ready for that". Lukashenko noted, today Minsk will host a session of the CSTO Collective Security Council. The Belarusian president was positive about the developing cooperation of the CSTO and EurAsEC, first of all, cooperation for protection of the Community's external borders. According to the Belarusian head of state, interaction within the CSTO and EurAsEC is "very important in view of the growing threats of international terrorism, transboundary crime, drug smuggling, and illegal migration". It was paid much attention to this issue during the narrow format sitting of the presidents. The Belarusian president expressed hope, the sitting will be constructive and will bring tangible results.

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