We do not agree to “hands up” – Ambassador of Belarus to the Russian Federation
Russia's proposals for integration with Belarus are unacceptable to official Minsk.
This was stated by the Ambassador of Belarus to the Russian Federation Vladimir Semashko, answering questions from Russian journalists, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“There must be integration within reasonable limits, without compromising sovereignty. I remember February 13, 19, when we were given proposals from the Russian side (I will not name the author). Well that's a total hands up. There was everything to give up, only you have the police, we have the police. This cannot be,” said Semashko.
According to him, Russia allegedly proposed to transfer 95% of government functions to the supranational level. At the same time, Semashko calculated that in the European Union 18% of functions are assigned to the supranational level.
“We are for the fact that some functions should be supranational. For example, there should be a single currency. The European Union has the euro, and we probably should have it. But depending on the scale - we have 9 million people, you have 147 million - there should be parity and equality. When issuing, the decision must be made by consensus. That’s when I understand,” says the ambassador.
He also spoke out against the unification of tax legislation, which Russia insists on.
“A priori, our tax and customs legislation cannot be the same, rewritten as a carbon copy. They can be unified. We have different economic structures. Your economy is largely formed by oil and gas. Unfortunately, we don't have this. The budget must be formed by straining MAZ and BelAZ. The main part of taxes is already the same, but the special part needs to be looked at by what percentage to unify, where what and how,” said Semashko.
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