Expert: SCO wants Belarus to join
State Secretary of Belarus’ Security Council Aleksandr Volfovich announced on April 7th that the process of agreeing on procedural issues for Belarus' admission to the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) was completed. Oleg Gaidukevich, a deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, explained why this is one of the key moments of Belarusian diplomacy in his talk with Alfa Radio.
The MP noted that the procedure for approving Belarus' accession to the SCO is proceeding very quickly, “This indicates the authority of our country, respect for the President of Belarus, and the fact that they want to see us in the SCO. They understand that Belarus will bring great benefit to this organisation as a country that keeps its word, pursues a sovereign policy, and develops economic ties – that is what we are doing right now.”
Oleg Gaidukevich stressed that the current generation is witnessing the transformation of the world in the existing political process.
“Unfortunately, this process is difficult and painful, but the world will never be the same in the geopolitical sense. Moreover, the good news is that these geopolitical changes are of great benefit for our country, and Russia, as our ally, they are strengthening our independence. The fact is that since the collapse of the USSR, the West has set a clear goal: to deprive Belarus and Russia of sovereignty and to seize our resources. The Europeans had a simple plan so that our qualified personnel would go there, and would work for pennies, and Russia and Belarus would be a raw material colony. They needed to siphon off our natural resources, land, because they wanted territory. In Europe, every inch of land is occupied, and they look at Belarus and Russia with envy. They want territories, while we do not. Modern occupation does not necessarily mean occupying the land. Today, Ukraine is occupied by the West, and it depends on financial assistance from abroad. The same situation exists in Lithuania. Poland gave part of its sovereignty long ago, because everything belongs to Great Britain and the United States, everything is sold out. That is what they wanted from us,” Mr. Gaidukevich added.
The MP recalled the words of our Head of State that he does not like when officials start referring to sanctions, “The President banned it, and that was the right decision. Sanctions strengthen Belarus and Russia. They have forced us to work, and to build a sovereign economy. It's satisfying that there is no way back. Moreover, one more very important conclusion: the attempt to isolate Belarus did not just completely fail, it played the opposite role, and the reverse effect occurred. We began to co-operate even more with the whole world, and we gained even greater international prestige. Were the sanctions aimed at this? No, the West wanted to isolate us, but instead we received huge international support.”
