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“Russia has been appointed as the enemy”
Published: 04 October, 2010, 08:52
Edited: 28 October, 2010, 03:19
Russia’s relations with other states have been the focus of my video-blog posts in the past. I’ve told you about the progress in our relations with the US. I’ve explained why I consider Russia’s participation in G20 meetings to be important. During one of the most dramatic times in Russian-Ukrainian relations, last summer, I shared with you my thoughts on why I considered any further attempts at dialogue with President Yushchenko to be futile.
Today I want to talk about our relations with our closest ally, Belarus. I’d like to address both Russians and Belarusians since we are all citizens of the Union State. I am deeply convinced that Russia always has and will consider Belarus the closest of its neighbors. We are united by a long shared history, culture, common joys and grief. We will always remember that our people – I am tempted to say “our one people” – endured great losses during the Great Patriotic War.
Together we have gone through the hardships of collectivization, famine and repressions. Russia and Belarus are now partners in the Union State. Both our countries are playing an active role in the creation of the Customs Union, the development of the CSTO, EurAsEc and the CIS. We intend to expand our cooperation with Belarus within the framework of these organizations. We will be conscientious in introducing the latest forms of economic cooperation that international practice has shown to be effective between neighbors as close as our countries are.
Being a good neighbor has been the reason we’ve been helping Belarus ever since the fall of the Soviet Union 20 years ago. The scope of our aid effort, no matter what people might say, has been huge. This year alone we have made discounts on oil shipments to Belarus worth approximately $2 billion in total. Gas shipments to Belarus have been subject to commeasurable concessions. The reason we did that was because we sincerely believed that our nations are inseparable. This is why I was extremely surprised that the Belarussian authorities have lately taken to anti-Russian rhetoric. Some election campaigns in Belarus are essentially based on anti-Russian stories. We see hysterical accusations aimed at Russia of not supporting Belarus or its economy. We hear curses aimed at the Russian authorities.
It’s not hard to see that a desire to sow dissent between our two peoples is the reason for these campaigns. The Belarusian authorities have always been eager to form an image of a collective enemy in the minds of their people. The US, Europe and the West in general have played the role of enemy in the past. Now we see that Russia has been appointed as the enemy. President Lukashenko’s utterings not only go beyond all diplomatic sense, they are downright indecent.
I am not surprised by this, however. I still recall our first bilateral meeting when, instead of focusing on Russian-Belarusian cooperation, Mr. Lukashenko started to give me his detailed and mostly negative opinion of my predecessors in the office of Russian president, Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin. I had to remind him then that our meeting had a different agenda.
Mr. Lukashenko demonstrated a similarly peculiar understanding of diplomatic partnership when asked about the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign states. I have said this in the past. The recognition of these two states is something that every sovereign country has the right to make their own decisions about. We have never tried to pressure any state on this issue even though the question is important to us. Mr. Lukashenko said in the presence of five other presidents – it was recorded in the protocol of the CSTO meeting – that he was ready to recognize these two states as independent. Later, however, Mr. Lukashenko decided to use the issue for political haggling. He seemed to have forgotten that Russia does not bargain away its principles. This sort of behavior is dishonest. It certainly does not befit a partner and we will take it into account when planning our future relations with Belarus.
Mr. Lukashenko does not hold himself back when it comes to insults and accusations aimed at Russia. This is what his entire election campaign is built on. He is obviously concerned about a lot of things: bringing order to our economy; Russian journalists talking to Belarusian opposition; even what happens to some of our retired and sacked higher officials. The president of Belarus, it seems, should be looking into the interior affairs of his own country such as for instance the multiple disappearances of Belarusian citizens. Russia, like other countries, is concerned over these people’s fates.
Of course these things should not define relations between nations or indeed individual people. I am confident of that as the President of the Russian Federation. I am also sure that this pointless tension will come to an end. I’ll put it plainly – Russia is ready to continue building an alliance with Belarus. Let me add that our nations will always see each other as brothers, no matter who is in office. We want our citizens to live in an atmosphere of freedom, justice and democracy rather than fear, and we are ready to pursue that goal together with our Belarusian friends.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
