Page 7 - BELRptApr19

2.0 Politics
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is going to establish "mutually respectful relations with NATO", he told the nation's diplomats officials at a meeting on March 5. Lukashenko, a close ally of the Kremlin, is known for his anti-NATO rhetoric. In February, he said that Belarus is going to consider a joint response with Russia if the US deploys new intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe. The statement appeared against a background of an escalating Russia-US dispute over the INF Treaty, which limits short range missiles in Europe. "Three states bordering Belarus are members of NATO. And Ukraine is craving to join it," Lukashenko's media office quoted him as saying. "This is a certain challenge and a breeding ground for confrontation, especially amid pleas and plans strengthen military presence." Lukashenko added that neither Belarus nor its neighbours need dividing lines. "Therefore, it is necessary to establish mutually respectful relations with NATO which would eventually enhance the security of our country. We must talk to them. We should not look at them like at our enemies," the president underlined.
Russia's agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor may ban the re-export of fruit and vegetables from Belarus with the aim to block alleged illegal supplies of banned western products. "As of today, the lack of reliable data about volumes of plant-based products imported and cleared by customs in Belarus and the lack of integrated information systems enabling the movement of products to be tracked in the Eurasian Economic Union's common territory is resulting in the falsification of the country of origin of products supplied to Russia," Interfax quoted the watchdog's statement on March 28. As responsibility in this case for the movement of products lies with Belarus, Rosselkhoznadzor will be forced "to ban the re-export of fruit and vegetables from Belarus", the agency added. Over the past years, Rosselkhoznadzor repeatedly imposed sanctions on Belarusian exporters of diary and meat products. Specifically, Moscow urged Minsk to stop illegal re-exporting Western and Ukrainian products banned in Russia. Recently, Russia was considering a ban on the imports of milk, cream, whey and other dairy products from Belarus, but decided not to do it without clear explanations of the move. In 2018, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko slammed Russian companies and officials over the delivery of sanctioned food via Belarus. According to him, "all the negative processes relating to the banned imports and other matters are handled by Russian companies, sometimes major ones, with big entrepreneurs in positions of power behind them". "We should speak about it, too. No need to be shy. Don't tell the Russian customs service. Tell the government and the president of Russia so that they could straighten things out. I say it to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin often. But facts should be presented," Lukashenko underlined. He also noted the importance of fulfilling agreed trade balances for 2019 and warned against putting up excessive barriers. Shipments of products should only be stopped for noncompliance with safety standards, he said. It was noted at the meeting that the need to combat counterfeit products led to the adoption of a Russian government resolution to set aside a separate shelf in stores for natural dairy products that do not contain vegetable fats.
Belarus and the US administration may reinstall ambassadors within the
7 BELARUS Country Report April 2019 www.intellinews.com