Lukashenko revealed some details of the adoption of 28 Union State programmes

More than a year ago, the presidents of Belarus and Russia approved an integration package of documents: the Decree of the Supreme State Council that sets forth the Guidelines for Implementing the Provisions of the Treaty Establishing the Union State in 2021-2023 and 28 Union State programmes aiming to deepen the integration processes of the Russian Federation and Belarus

photo: www.belta.by

Today, during a meeting on the implementation of these integration programmes, Aleksandr Lukashenko spoke about some details of their adoption, “I’d like to say that it was not just that Putin and I gathered there and adopted something. No. Officials in charge met and discussed, and at the Supreme State Council, with the participation of senior officials, we approved these programmes. But the sparks were flying when we accepted these programmes. There were dozens of them. We went along with the Russians, agreeing on twenty-eight sectoral programmes. At that time, there were proposals to set up a parliament, and create something else, and so on and so forth. All this was rejected. Then President Putin, reacting to my remarks, said to his negotiators already in the closed part: ‘Why are we shifting around, why are we making strenuous efforts here? If we, the two sides, are not ready to settle these issues today, there is no need to do so yet. If the need arises, then we will decide’. So it was said. And we always insisted that the cart should not be put before the horse. So we agreed. It was fundamental. And these twenty-eight programmes remained.”

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, these programmes reflect not only socio-economic areas, but also security issues. However, there is a nuance, “Time has now pushed us in such a way that those security programmes that were approved more than a year ago are already outdated. We have already come a long way in bilateral relations on security issues. That is, life pushed us, and we went for closer integration. This is how you have to act: based on real situation. Otherwise, we will break everything.”