Call to deepen integration between Belarus, Russia
09:50, 30 October
It is necessary to deepen integration between Belarus and Russia, Nikolai Bordyuzha, who was Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in 2003-2016, told the STV channel, BelTA reports.
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“We need to deepen integration between our countries, real integration, in line with those programs that State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev spoke about at the conference. They are designed to integrate our economies. We must align our economies into one. Yes, the two countries should remain sovereign, but the degree of economic, social and security integration should be high enough to prevent our former friends from driving a wedge between us,” he said.
And such attempts were made regularly by other states, he emphasized. “I think that since 1992, as soon as the USSR collapsed and new sovereign states emerged, the main task of intelligence services of the United States and Europe was the separation of the former USSR republics and states. They worked to do this in Central Asia. By the way, we used to have good relations with Ukraine, but they went sour. And they did everything to ruin relations between Belarus and Russia. This did not happen that this is primarily due to the wisdom of our leaders. I believe that Aleksandr Lukashenko deserves a monument for his tremendous efforts to prevent our countries from being disunited,” he said.
Nikolai Bordyuzha emphasized that the world is on the verge of major military clashes. “After all, it's not just about Ukraine. Now the whole Arab world is on fire, it flared up,” he said. “Russia, by the way, has been provoked for many years. It was provoked either through the Ukrainians, or directly by the Europeans. They were pushing it to an armed conflict. You see and hear the rhetoric coming from the leadership of the United States and Europe - everyone is talking about the need to defeat Russia strategically. But how can one inflict a strategic defeat on a nuclear power? This is impossible. Only if a nuclear war breaks out. Therefore I believe that the possibility of this major conflict is absolutely real,” Nikolai Bordyuzha remarked.
The situation in the Middle East also causes some concern. “I think the situation in the Middle East will be worse than in Ukraine. Especially if other organizations and forces there get involved. In any case, this conflict, no matter how it ends, will have far-reaching ramifications lasting for decades,” Nikolai Bordyuzha added.