Belarus not ready for association agreement with EU

Belarus is not ready for close cooperation with the European Union and the Association Agreement, said the Belarus Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makey in an interview with The Washington Post.

"At this stage, I will speak frankly, we're not ready to talk about close relationship with the European Union in the form of an Association Agreement, for example," said the official. However, the head of the Belarusian diplomacy did not rule out that a closer relationship with the EU may happen "after 5, 10, 15 years. If the European Union will remain an organization at the time."

In the context of the Ukrainian crisis, said Mr Makey, today it is a question of maintaining and strengthening the sovereignty and independence of Belarus and other countries. He sees economic sovereignty as the basis for political independence. "Therefore, and we talk about it with our European partners, we are interested in having normal trade and economic relations, particularly with the European Union. We are not only talking about it, but take concrete measures," said the Minister.

The Foreign Minister noted: "We are not afraid that someone will attack Belarus, but we want to prevent an economic collapse." According to him, Belarus will continue to remain an island of stability in the region, if foreign partners will to cooperate with it in the trade and economic spheres. This way Belarus will able to calmly move through the crisis.

Photo - mfa.gov.by