Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan can join CES if they meet some conditions - Lukashenko
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said he sees no obstacles standing in the way of other countries' entry into the Common Economic Space (CES) if these states agree to meet a number of conditions.
"We have already formed a certain regulatory and legal framework for the Customs Union. It consists of several dozen serious documents, which have already become laws in Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. If our partners prove able to accomplish this work, and if we manage to reach an agreement, as Russia and Kyrgyzstan did when they joined the WTO, they will be CES members. But if they fail to do so, they will not join the CES. Serious money is involved. It is an economic issue. It is not a joke," Lukashenko told the Mir interstate television station.
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which are partners of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan in the Eurasian Economic Community, have already come closer to joining the CES, the president said.
"The situation with Tajikistan could be more complicated because it does not share a border with the Customs Union. But I think that a solution to this issue can be found," he said.