8 Sep 2008
Belarus will not be reabsorbed into Russia – Lukashenko
After years of coyly playing with the idea of reintegrating his country into the Russian Federation, Belorussian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has definitively put to rest any such notion, saying it benefited neither Russia nor Belarus in the end.
“Neither Belarus nor Russia have any need for this,” he said, “Why deprive ourselves of an ally in the international arena, deprive ourselves of one more voice in the UN and other international organizations?”
Lukashenko also said that while he felt the increased cooperation and movement towards a Belarus-Russia Union had stagnated, recent events had largely influenced the decision — namely, the Georgian crisis.
This is surprising because Lukashenko just last week had signaled he would recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and remained one of Russia’s closest supporters throughout the crisis. Now, however it appearks Lukashenko would prefer to avoid whatever consequences Russia is due to endure in the aftermath of the conflict.