Belarus-Russia integration is extremely complex, multi-stage task – Russian ambassador in Minsk
The ongoing integration processes in the Union State of Belarus and Russia are extremely complex and multiple-choice ones, Russian Ambassador to Belarus Dmitry Mezentsev told the press in Minsk on Thursday.
"The Union State Treaty should not be regarded as an applied document. This is a basic, political document, which has a strategic significance. Its significance has been proven," Mezentsev said.
"The fact that the presidents of the two states have reaffirmed its [the treaty's] scope, relevance, and unquestionable prospective is a colossal result of negotiations," he said.
"You and I should be realistic and should not see the roadmap [for deepening integration] as a directive; all of us should realize that. We should not make people wait for an abstract 'Monday'," Mezentsev said.
"Instead, we should speak about an extremely complex, multiple-choice, and multi-stage process. It cannot be easy. In particular, because management of national economies has its specifics. The economies differ in size, and different economic sectors dominate," he said.
"It is incredibly difficult to harmonize them, not even from the political angle but from the economic one," Mezentsev said.
"The task becomes very challenging whenever it is necessary to take interests of two separate, independent states with their own currencies and national plans into account. It is incredibly difficult," he said.