| Minsk, 15 August. Russia's Rosbalt news agency
interviewed Russian politicians
on the eve of the August 14 meeting between Belarusian leader
AlexanderLukashenko
and President Vladimir Putin.
Sergei Mitrokhin, deputy chairman of the State Duma faction Yabloko,
said that Lukashenko would limit his visit to "demagogic
statements, as usual". "His main task is to preserve
his image of a unification advocate in Russia, and defender of
national interests, in Belarus."
"The union of Russia and Belarus has no prospects",
while Lukashenko is in power, stressed Mitrokhin. "This will
become even clearer if the Belarussians insist on their integration
plan. However, if the Russian project is accepted, things might
work out well."
Russia's Liberal Democratic Party's propaganda chief, Stanislav
Zhebrovsky, believes that any meetings between the two leaders
are useful.
"It is much better to meet and discuss things tete-a-tete
than to exchange shots hundreds of kilometres apart."
He said he was certain that forces both in Russia and Belarus
were trying to sabotage integration efforts.
"We could unify within hours if this was what the two leaders
wanted. It takes political will. The thing is, there are people
behind the integration who are not interested in the unification
of the two nations."
Russia would benefit from a merger with Belarus, as "it
is impossible to exist with open borders but different economic
systems," added Zhebrovsky.
Konstantin Zatulin, who heads the Institute for the Countries
of the Commonwealth of Independent States, expressed support of
Mr. Putin's proposal that the two countries unite in a federation.
He said that other alternatives, especially the European Union
pattern, would drag out integration.
"Of course, some details on the construction of a single
state may be and must be specified. However, if there is even
a shadow of a doubt as to whether the Russian and Belarusian citizens
want it, a referendum could be held, but preparations for the
referendum should not delay the unification steps that the Russian
President declared."
Lukashenko may be afraid of changes in his own country, Sergei
Karganov, head of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, told
Russia's NTV channel.
"We are going to build one state with Belarus, where Lukashenko
is the lawfully elected leader. I believe there will be a decent
role for him in the union state. It is quite a different matter
that he fears reforms in his own country, and we need to push
him to carry out these reforms. In my view, any Belarusian leader
should be guaranteed the role of vice-president or head of the
Federation Council in the unified state."
The Union of Right-Wing Forces (URF) leaders are sceptical about
the Belarusian leader's visit to Moscow. Valery Khomyakov, member
of the URF Federal Political Council, called Lukashenko "the
main obstacle to the two nation's integration".
"Lukashenko has been living off this idea for a fairly long
time, as an overwhelming majority of Belarusians want to live
in Russia."
"The Belarusian elite's problem is that they want to keep
their seats, which is impossible if Russia and Belarus unite,"
added Khomyakov.
He stressed that "Belarus should get a new president and
enter the Russian Federation wholesale, as a province, or retail,
as six regions."
"Belarus would certainly benefit more from the former scenario,
as its leaders would retain control over all the regions, but
within Russia. However, as long as Lukashenko is in power, he
will not agree to this."
See also:
Relationship with Belarus
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