Lukashenko calls for greater integration in CSTO

We need closer integration in the CSTO, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with the ministers of foreign affairs of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Minsk on 20 June, BelTA has learned.

The head of state touched upon the integration associations in the post-Soviet space and gave a number of positive examples. At the last meeting in Moscow the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council discussed the ways of aligning the integration processes, devising alternative payment systems and developing transport infrastructure. Another positive example is the decision to launch a mechanism for joint financing of industrial cooperation projects by the Eurasian Economic Commission. This, according to the president, is the most important step to strengthen economic, commercial and industrial sovereignty.

"In the CIS, we cooperate across the board: from humanitarian matters to interregional and cross-border cooperation, inter-parliamentary ties," Aleksandr Lukashenko continued. "The CSTO, as a guarantor of stability and security of our countries and the Eurasian region as a whole, needs to keep up with the trends."

The president considers the close ties between the CSTO countries in the political, military, economic, social and other areas to be the key to lasting peace between them and the basis of their unity in the international arena. "Today it is difficult to say what the world order will be in the future. However, it is obvious that only those who maintain cohesion will be able to go through this difficult stage with least losses. This is why we are increasingly talking about the need for greater integration within our organization," the Belarusian leader stressed.

Written by belta.by