Aye, talk to me!
I just love this straightforward way of Belarusian president Lukashenka and his emotive politics.
This time he commented on the establishment of a rapid response force within the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO). Out of 7 member states Belarus and Uzbekistan haven’t signed the respective agreements.
Lukashenka acknowledged that having been asked as to whether he would sign, he replied that it was his business and he would decide on his own what he would sign and when.
He explained that Belarus would fancy only lucrative documents. “… I asked them as to why I should defend them… Why should my guys die if something happens? Why? Why doesn’t Russia want to give me access to the market? Why can’t I get energy resources from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Russia? Why do they charge wild prices? Why should our guys die for it? And there was a dead silence,” Lukashenka said as quoted by Belapan.
Surprisingly he cited EU as an example of living as if in a single state and exemplified the structure of NATO where the stronger help the weaker. Whereas in CSTO things are different, he said.
Apropos response forces. Nothing seems to prevent Minsk from hosting Belarus-Russia military drills in autumn.
Looks like Russia has to operate on several fronts opened against it. Aggressive statements from actors of all sides show that talks don’t work, there’s no compromise about political or economic interests.
Not that emotional affronts could be helpful: actions speak louder than words anyway. But at least these loud words make the ongoing reality show “International Affairs-2009″ more fun to follow.
Tags: Belarus-Russia, CSTO, reality show, Russia
