Belarusian Minister for Foreign Affairs: Integration with EU is possible
Uladzimir Makei does not exclude the possibility of Belarus joining the EU in the future, he told Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
Belarus may join the EU “in 40 or 50 years”.
Makei: “Why not? Let’s calmly analyze the current processes instead of making states to take the final decision: to join Europe or the Customs Union. We have been overshadowed by bigger countries for a long time – Poland, Russia and the USSR. We did not build up any special identity in the past 20 years. We need time to decide which road to take.” Alyaksandr Lukashenka commented on the future of the Commonwealth at a meeting of CIS Presidents in Minsk in October. Belarus is not refusing to cooperate with the European Union, he noted. However, he does not think that it may be possible to join the EU. “They cannot stand us,” he told mass media.
"We have no choice (and cannot have any): Russia or the EU… We cannot go on without Russia and Russia cannot refuse from Belarusians… It is counterproductive to demand that we should turn our back on Russia,” Lukashenka said in his Message to the People and the National Assembly in April.
Photo: bymedia.net
