Prospects for Ukraine and Belarus relations in new political and economic conditions
On November 6, an international conference was held in the conference hall of the Chernihiv Regional Council by the Analytical Center “Polissya Fund of International and Regional Studies” dedicated to the prospects of development of interstate relations of Ukraine and the Republic of Belarus in new political and economic realities. The event was supported by the regional representation of the Fund. Friedrich Ebert in Ukraine and Belarus.
Representatives of the diplomatic corps, local authorities, analytical centers, non -governmental public organizations, as well as political and economic experts of Ukraine and Belarus took part in the work of the conference. The event has analyzed new challenges and risks from changing the geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe, the possibility of developing trade and economic relations between countries in the conditions of stay at different stages of regional economic integration of various vector orientation, as well as some proposals for possible areas of cooperation of Ukraine and Belarus have been developed.
In the course of the welcoming word, the manager of the projects of the regional representation of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Ukraine and Belarus Margarita Lytvyn stressed that in the current geopolitical conditions, such measures are extremely important and necessary, since they allow representatives of both countries to identify the basic prospects and problematic aspects of interstate relations and jointly. That is why the management of the Foundation. Friedrich Ebert has decided to support the organization of this conference.
Presenting the results of the study “Cooperation of the Republic of Belarus and Ukraine in new geopolitical conditions” President of the Polissya Fund, a member of the leading committee of the Ukrainian National Platform of the Forum of Civil Society of Eastern Partnership, Gennady Maxak emphasized that in the history Communications have always been significantly dependent on the level of relations between our countries with Russia and the European Union and the United States. Over the last decade, there has been an almost unofficial setting in the economic sphere, leaving the issue of effective political dialogue in the economic sphere. The President of the Polissya Fund stressed that Minsk can be a fairly profitable place for negotiations in the direction of cooperation of Ukraine and the countries of the Customs Union. This format of negotiations, according to a Ukrainian expert, can be very useful not only to Ukraine but also to the Belarusian side, since O. Lukashenko can take on the role of unofficial mediator in Kyiv’s relations with the customs “three”.
According to the Advisor of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Ukraine, Igor Mlidovich, who represented his country from official positions, the basis for the development of strategic partnership between the two countries is good neighborly relations that have historically developed between the peoples of Belarus and Ukraine. The official Minsk respects the European choice of Ukraine and sees this the opportunity to increase the competitiveness of Belarusian enterprises in the Ukrainian and European markets. The diplomat emphasized that priority in Belarus’s politics in relation to Ukraine will always remain a bilateral format of dialogue, which allows you to most effectively address common problematic issues.
In his turn, according to the Belarusian independent political expert Alexander Feduta, it is important for Ukraine today that the current president of the Republic of Belarus continues to remain in his post, as this is a certain guarantee of preserving the good neighborly nature of Ukrainian-Belarusian relations. “Given the gradual weakening of Russia’s position in conflict with Ukraine, the medium-term official will look for options for intensifying cooperation with the European Union in the medium term,”- said Belarusian specialist.
According to the Director of Research on the NGO “Discussion-Analytical Community, the Liberal Club (Belarus) Eugene Priestman, since the time of independence, Belarus combines two strategies in foreign policy: Balance Strategy and Strategy for” Adjoining “. The expert is inclined to believe that Minsk’s neutral position in the current events in Ukraine is a kind of “security pillow” in relations with Russia, and therefore, in the near future, one should not expect clear statements of the leadership of Belarus in relation to events in the Donbass.
One of the sections of the conference also discussed the issues of border and regional cooperation of Ukraine and the Republic of Belarus. During the consideration of this topic, the current legislative and institutional mechanisms of border cooperation and peculiarities of cooperation of Chernihiv and Gomel regions were covered. In addition, the participants of this section touched on important issues related to the economic and innovative instruments of activation of border and interregional interaction between the two fraternal states. In particular, the prospects for the use of the Ukraine -Belarus program were discussed within the framework of the Program of Promoting Territorial Cooperation of the Eastern Partnership countries, which is a virtually oriented tool for strengthening the border contacts of the two countries and opens up opportunities to identify and solve common problems of border areas.