Opinion: no clear-headed politician will withdraw a country from EAEU

Reasonable politicians will not withdraw their countries from the EAEU, because they take into account the direct economic benefits of participating in this union – as stated by Aleksei Belyaev, the Dean of the Journalism Department at the Belarusian State University, in his talk with Alfa Radio

The expert noted that the economy is the main point that makes the EAEU attractive to the participating countries, “The EAEU is also about politics, but the economy is actually its core point. The economic benefit is very important, it really exists, and it is direct from the participation in the EAEU. No clear-headed politician will withdraw his country from the EAEU. All countries have benefited, since there is a concrete and clear economic result: the total GDP of the EAEU member states has more than doubled due to co-operative ties, developed logistics, and the removal of customs barriers. Foreign trade opportunities have also improved significantly. The signing of an agreement with Iran on a free trade zone has become a very serious breakthrough, and it was born owing to Belarus’ President who visited Iran in early 2023. It has taken a year to resolve the problem, and the result is great.”

Mr. Belyaev recalled that the Eurasian Economic Union was created thanks to the foresight of the Belarusian leader, “It began to be established by the countries that were once part of the USSR. That was happening in the era of global peace, in the fat years – as I call it. There was economic and macro-financial stability in the world then, and it seemed somehow unreasonable to create alternative forms of economic interaction, since there was a global peace and the World Trade Organisation. It seemed it was just necessary to join the latter, live by its rules, trade with the whole world, and develop as a part of the global world. Therefore, we must thank our leaders and primarily the foresight of Aleksandr Lukashenko, who even then saw the need to create alternative forms of integration of the regions that has previously formed a single economic space.”

As noted by the expert, the creation of the EAEU was of great importance for the current stable state of all the EAEU countries in general and Belarus in particular. “The participating countries maintain stability in the face of sanctions pressure, global economic storms, and the current global economic crisis,” he explained.   

According to Mr. Belyaev, the EAEU also faces problems – and this is natural – but they are all solved through negotiations and daily painstaking work, which is important. “The EAEU is a form of unification with common rules of the game. We strive to ensure that there are common markets without obstacles and exceptions. The freedoms outlined in times of the EAEU creation – such as the freedom of movement of goods, capital and labour resources – have been implemented by now. We have already come close to creating a single energy market,” he said.

Mr. Belyaev added that a number of important documents were signed at the recent EAEU meeting, and they take into account new trends regarding the digitalisation of trade, “The EAEU is a flexible association that responds to a changing situation, but with clear and strict principles that are respected.”