The appeal of the Unity Council in connection with the situation around the Belarusian-Russian border

To the President of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin


To the President of the Republic of Belarus
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko


APPEAL

by public associations that formed the Coordinating Council of the Leftist-Patriotic Forces of Belarus "UNITY"


in connection with the situation around the Belarusian-Russian border, the need to strengthen the defensive capability of the Belarus-Russia Union State and the strengthening of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)



23 years ago an important event took place in the history of the Belarusian-Russian relations: on May 26, 1995, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin took part in a symbolic ceremony of removing border pillars between the two countries. This act, by mutual agreement, was preceded by the abolition of customs and border controls. Thus, both sides liquidated the border zones.

The signing on December 8, 1999 by the Presidents of Belarus and Russia of the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State put, it would seem, the final point on the issue of the Belarusian-Russian border. Within the framework of these agreements, a single migration space actually began to operate between countries. Citizens of Belarus and Belarus were given the opportunity to make mutual trips through internal passports without passing border controls. Customs checks were also completely eliminated when crossing the border by rail. Air flights between the two states were transferred to the category of internal flights. The simplified procedure for movement and the virtual absence of the border were one of the most obvious and convenient for citizens achievements in relations between the two countries.

In 2010-2011. In the framework of the introduction of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, customs and transport controls were formally abolished.

However, in recent years problems began to appear on the Belarusian-Russian border. In 2014, Belarus introduced a regime of enhanced customs control after Russia imposed a ban on the import of products from the European Union and other countries as part of the response to previously imposed anti-Russian sanctions. In the fall of 2016, Russia tightened the rules for the passage of citizens of third countries through the Belarusian-Russian border. The backlog of mutual claims began to grow every year, which led to the introduction of the border guard at the border by the Russian FSB. One of the reasons for their appearance is the decision of Belarus to introduce a five-day visa-free regime for citizens of the United States, the EU and some other countries arriving in the republic through the Minsk airport from February 11, 2017.

There were changes for air passengers: from May 15, flights between Belarus and Russia in Russian airports were transferred to international sectors. Passengers of these flights, who are not citizens of the two countries, must undergo border control, and Belarusians and Russians should be provided with boarding passes when passing control at Russian airports.

The fact that the situation around the Belarusian-Russian border is stalled can also be inferred from the answers of the Belarusian president during his visit to the Divin border postings, from which it follows that Belarus does not exclude the appearance of border control on the border with Russia. Thus, what was built two decades, can be destroyed by one stroke of the pen. This can not but become a step back in the Belarusian-Russian relations and in the implementation of the Treaty on the creation of the Union State of Belarus and Russia.



It was this agreement that marked the highest stage of the political integration of the two states, of which military partnership was a part. Despite the "turbulence" in relations between Belarus and Russia, the issue of strengthening ties in the field of defense has never been called into question, which is supported by patriotic forces in both states.

The issues of strengthening our joint defense are becoming more important every year. The reason for this is the unchanged policy of Western countries promoting NATO to the East, which is conducted in defiance of previously reached agreements between them and the former leadership of the USSR. Moreover, despite the fact that the Warsaw Treaty Organization was liquidated, NATO remains so far that there is no justification.

The situation along the perimeter of the borders of Belarus in three directions (from the north, west and south) is becoming more and more heated. NATO is building up its contingent in Poland and the Baltics. More recently, the media published information with reference to a document of the Polish Ministry of Defense that the Polish state expressed its willingness to pay up to $ 2 billion to create a permanent US military base on its territory. In addition, Poland provided its territory to the US to deploy elements of the ABM system. This, of course, will be an additional threat to the security of our Union State. How can one not remember that the earlier negotiations on the establishment in Bobruisk of the air base of the Russian Military Space Station have reached an impasse. Our potential opponents act brazenly and snappily at our (!) Borders, and we are shy to act on the lead. As history shows, this often ends in sad consequences.

On the southern border of Belarus the situation is also uneasy. As a result of the coup d'état of 2014, which was carried out with the support of the Western countries, primarily the United States, in Ukraine the the Bandera forces came to power. The fraternal Ukrainian people suffered a severe test: it turned out to be under the heel of a pro-fascist government that has punished all the norms of democratic leadership. Kiev rulers legislatively approved Ukraine's intention to join NATO, and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine declared Russia an aggressor country. Thus, Ukraine has become an unfriendly state in relation to the Union State of Belarus and Russia.



We are concerned about the state of affairs in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The CSTO, which is a regional international organization whose stated objectives are "to strengthen peace, international and regional security and stability, to defend on a collective basis the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Member States, the priority given to the achievement by Member States of political means", while has not shown itself to the proper extent to fulfill the tasks set.

Undoubtedly, the installation of political means for the settlement of conflicts, if they give effect, can only be welcomed. We do not call for an arms race, however, in the present severe time, military threats must be in the CSTO's view, and for this purpose the strengthening of the military component of the entire organization's activities is indispensable. In addition, according to the information provided by the NATO and CSTO management structures, the degree of mobility and controllability in the NATO system is higher than in the loose CSTO. From history it is known that where the combined armed forces of different countries had a clear unified command, success invariably was on their side. History also knows the golden rule: the strong are never attacked.

Summarizing the above, we, the representatives of public associations that formed the Coordinating Council of the Left-Patriotic Forces of Belarus "UNITY", call on you, Vladimir Vladimirovich and Alexander Grigorievich to:

1. Demonstrate political will and at the next meeting decide the issue of settling the situation around the Belarusian-Russian border in such a way as to prevent the closure of the border and the introduction of full border control. The movement back to the times of anarchy in the early 1990s that followed the dismemberment of the Soviet Union is unacceptable. Our peoples need a real movement forward in bringing Belarus and Russia closer, not dismantling and finding out who has whom to whom and how much he has been beaten by someone.

We support the statement of the Belarusian President A.G. Lukashenka that in our relations "borders are a relic of the past",and that "they contribute little to people's communication ".

2. We support the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus V.V. Makey in Brussels on the possibility of creating a Russian military base in Belarus in case of the deployment of an American military base in Poland, and we believe that preparations for this incident must be immediately carried out.

3. We believe that it is necessary to revise the CSTO statutory documents with a view to strengthening the military component of this organization, which would not be inferior in matters of management and decision-making by the NATO leadership, and take effective measures to modernize armaments, staffing, training and joint exercises to reflect the external military threat to the countries belonging to the CSTO.


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Heads of public associations that formed the Coordinating Council of the Left-Patriotic Forces of Belarus "UNITY":"


V.B. Zelikov, Chairman of the Republican Civil Committee of the Patriotic Social Union "Otechestvo"



V.V. Draco, Chairman of the Republican Council of the Public Association "For Democracy, Social Progress and Justice"

Deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus of 1st meeting,

Chairman of the Commission on Information Policy and Interaction with Public Associations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia (1997 - 2000).



L.E. Shkolnikov, Secretary-Coordinator of the Republican Public Association "For the Union and Communist Party of the Union"



S.A. Okruzhko, Chairman of the Republican Organizing Committee for the Education of the Belarusian Communist Party of Working People



B.F. Bokov, Major-General in retirement, participant in the Great Patriotic War,

Honorary chairman of the public association "Victors" for relations with the cities-heroes



G.I. Simanovsky, Secretary of the Coordinating Council of the Left-Patriotic Organizations of Belarus "UNITY"



Minsk, 06/06/2018