President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, at the EAEU summit in St. Petersburg, spoke about the prospects of Eurasian integration until 2045. A declaration prepared during the Russian presidency, outlining the main tasks and key directions for the further development of integration processes within the Eurasian Economic Union for the periods up to 2030 and 2045, was presented to the leaders of the countries, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
"It is important that our countries live not only in the present. We clearly understand the goals of integration in the foreseeable future. At the initiative of the Russian side, a declaration has been prepared defining the tasks for the development of the Eurasian Economic Union until 2030 and the contours of integration until 2045. In the strict spirit of economic pragmatism, specific, understandable goals have been outlined: further building of a common Eurasian market, ensuring it with key goods and resources, developing cooperation, forming a common transport and logistics space and a common financial market, and active international positioning of the EAEU," said the head of the Belarusian state.
According to Alexander Lukashenko, in developing the declaration, it is necessary to develop a roadmap for its implementation: "The declaration defines the most important directions in which we will move. This is a conceptual matter. Therefore, today, in a narrow session, we made a decision that, in support of the declaration and its development, a roadmap should be adopted – a concrete plan for our development. It will not be easy, but we will adopt such a plan."
On financial support for cooperation
According to Alexander Lukashenko, special attention is paid to the issue of financial support for Eurasian industrial cooperation projects using the union's budget funds.
"A good innovation. This means we will jointly build new enterprises and thereby develop our economy. The decision has been made, the criteria for selecting such projects have been developed and approved," he noted.
On transport, logistics, and digital infrastructure
Work on the joint development of transport, logistics, and digital infrastructure of the member states, and enhancing the transport connectivity of the union with actively developing third-country markets, also occupies an important place.
"The synergy of our infrastructure capabilities, the realization of the potential of international organizations and development institutions can and must ensure the solution to the task of forming a pan-continental transport and logistics, as well as trade and economic space," said the head of state.
According to him, a good example of such a consolidation of efforts is the "North-South" transport corridor, which is being implemented on the initiative of the President of Russia with the participation of Azerbaijan and Iran. "This will be a breakthrough in transport and logistics. It is important to give this project momentum. Under no circumstances should it be left on paper," noted the Belarusian leader.
On "integration of integrations" and the EAEU's status in the world
The maximum realization of the messages and directions reflected in the declaration is a task for the governments of the countries and the Eurasian Economic Commission. "In the context of forming a new highly competitive geopolitical environment, the outcome of the implementation of all plans would be to see the Eurasian Economic Union, if not by 2030, then certainly by 2045, as one of the main global poles of economic attraction," stated Alexander Lukashenko.
The head of state said that at a meeting in a narrow format, he compared the EAEU with other integration associations, such as the SCO and BRICS. "The SCO is a most powerful organization. Many who are members of the EAEU are members of this association. BRICS is a very hyped (and rightly so), potentially powerful organization in the future, which many countries dissatisfied with the development of the situation in the UN are looking at. But, comparing them with the EAEU, I conclude that we have more opportunities. The SCO and BRICS have not advanced in the economy as much as we have. They do not have this momentum. They have not yet reached the level of integration that we have achieved," explained the Belarusian leader.
According to him, the main thing now is not to lose pace and not to stop in cooperation and the development of integration: "We must move in this direction. So that we become a leading not only regional but also global economic organization. And if there is an economy, politics will follow, and military-political cooperation, if there is something to protect. It will not go anywhere either. We have a chance. The most important thing is not to stop."
"The document is comprehensive and correct, with everything detailed therein. However, in matters of the union's international positioning and the commission's international activities, I would like to see greater systematicity. There should also be a specific action plan, rather than acting haphazardly," the Belarusian leader remarked.
According to him, it is worth working more actively on developing the institution of a state-observer within the union, and making greater efforts towards the real synergy of integration potentials of the EAEU, SCO, and BRICS. "Despite having more opportunities, we must cooperate more closely with them. This will only make us stronger. We need to leverage the advantages of participating in such dynamically developing associations with Russia, which operates within them as one of the key founding countries. We will fully support the Russian Federation in this important collective work," stated Alexander Lukashenko.
Source: belta.by