State council of “union state” failed: Lukashenka not flying to Moscow

Another scandal between Moscow and Minsk has broken. This time, it happened at the highest level. As Kommersant daily has learnt, a session of supreme state council of the “union state” of Russia and Belarus, scheduled for today, was broken. Alyaksandr Lukashenka was to visit the Russian capital in the frames of the session.

The parties didn’t agree on development of the common state and postponed the meeting sine die. Scheduled for today Russian-Belarusian agreement on common air defence system was also delayed.

Some bodies that have been prepared the event confirmed the information about a sudden delay to "Kommersant". The Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affaires, and the office of Pavel Borodin, state secretary of the “union state” of Russia and Belarus, gave the same answer to the newspaper: scheduled for Monday state council as well as visit of Alyaksandr Lukashenka to Moscow will fail.

“The Russian side was ready to hold the state council on December 1. Belarus has announced its readiness, too. One of the sides suggested a number of substantive issues that demanded additional discussing and delay of the session,” Borodin’s spokesman Ivan Makushok told to Kommersant yesterday. “Both Moscow and Minsk want to hold a really remarkable session of the state council and raise important for the allies issues there.” Kommersant’s sources in the Kremlin were terser: “Neither the state council nor the visit will take place.”

It has been the second time when a session of the state council was broken. First, it was scheduled for November 3, but a week before, October 25, Presidents of Russia and Belarus Dmitry Medvedev and Alyaksandr Lukashenka had had a meeting and Kremlin’s press service told the session had been delayed till early December. No grounds for this decision were told.

Ahead of the session, both Russia and Belarus hinted that it would become “a turning point in the history” of the union state. The Russian MFA told on Friday “Moscow was fully prepared for the session of the state council”, but asked not to reveal the date to the public. A MFA high ranking source of Kommersant said Alyaksandr Lukashenka was expected to sign at least one important document, namely an agreement on common air defence system of Russia and Belarus. According to the diplomat, the draft document was approved long time ago, but it is still unsigned.

Officers of Borodin’s office got a rush job last weekend completing preparations for the session and agreeing upon the agenda. All negotiators were given all clear only Sunday night. “It is unprecedented. This has never happened before,” a participant of the preparations for the delayed session complained to Kommersant.

In all appearance, it was the agenda that caused postponing of a data of the session of the supreme state council. According to sources close to the Belarusian administration, it was decided during the preliminary consultations that such principal issues as adopting of the Constitutional act of the “union state” and transferring to common currency were put on the agenda. The Belarusian party insisted on considering of these issues. In his recent interview to France Presse, Alyaksandr Lukashenka complained that many questions of the development of the “union state” remain unsettled because the Constitutional act is not adopted. According to him some drafts have been already prepared, but one proposed by Russia is “much weaker of the acting agreement on creation of the union state”. “Why make people laugh and adopt a constitution which is weaker than the agreement? In this case, let the agreement act. Constitution must be constitution,” Lukashenka said.

Belarus’s shot didn’t go unnoticed in Moscow. “Minsk’s statements are another lies by which they are trying to replace real negotiating process. Russia repeatedly confirmed its desire on deepening the integration, but the Belarusian side didn’t move forward,” a Kremlin source told to Kommersant. What concerns the session of the state council, according to the source of the Russian president’s administration, Moscow is ready to hold it any time “on a condition concrete decisions will be adopted,” as “there’s no use of state council for the sake of state council”.

Besides the above mentioned notices, Russia has other questions to the Belarusian party. One of them was raised up by Russian Ambassador to Minsk Aleksandr Surikov, who reminded the Belarusian authorities about their promise to recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia. “You promised that newly elected parliament would consider a question on recognition or non-recognition of these two republics. In this connection we expected the parliament to do it,” the diplomat said. It is remarkable that Russia reminded this only after it had transferred to Belarus $1bn of $2bn loan. According to the newspaper, one of the reasons to grant a loan was Lukashenka’s promise to support Russia and recognise independence of the two Caucasian republics. However, the Belarusian head of state has given to understand that he is not going to listen to Moscow on this issue. “If we decide something on Abkhazia and South Ossetia, it will be our decision. Not a decision under the pressure of Russia. I wouldn’t stand any pressure for that matter,” Alyaksandr Lukashenka told in the interview to AFP.

Being under such conditions, the Kremlin apparently found it impractical to host Lukashenka. Besides, it is not excluded that educational sanctions may be imposed on Minsk. On November 7, Russian Agricultural Supervision spread a press release saying that “Belarusian quality inspection system of animal origin products can’t guarantee safety of products, exported to Russia.” It means that import of Belarusian agricultural products to Russia may be banned soon.