MINSK, September 29. /ITAR-TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko called on the lawmakers on Monday to be committed to the country’s interests when forming the legal basis for the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
“Your goal is to use all the parliamentary tools to assist the formation of a legal framework of the Union while safeguarding our interests,” Lukashenko said at the meeting with the members of the Council of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus.
The Belarusian leader said that starting from 2015, the Belarusian economy is expected to operate in conditions of the Eurasian Economic Union.
“If you see that any mistake was made in the drafting of this document, which is very important, please, inform others and me, and don't stop at anything to protect interests of the Belarusian state,” Lukashenko stressed, pledging to support all the remarks and proposals made by the lawmakers.
Belarusian lawmakers are due to gather for an autumn session on October 2.
The chairman of the permanent commission for foreign affairs of the House of Representatives, Nikolay Samoseyko, said no timeframe for the ratification of the treaty can be announced until the Belarusian parliament receives the document. “But we will be trying to ratify it simultaneously with the parliaments of Russia and Kazakhstan,” the Belarusian lawmaker said.
On Friday, Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, ratified the landmark pact which envisages the creation of the three-member-state Eurasian Economic Union between Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, on Monday unanimously recommended the senators to ratify the treaty.
The agreement is widely expected to be ratified by all countries by October 7.
The Eurasian Economic Union Treaty was signed by the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus in late May this year. The treaty establishes the Eurasian Economic Union, which ensures free movement of goods, services, capital and labor force and binds its member states to conduct coordinated or common policy in economic sectors.
The Eurasian Economic Union Treaty is to come into force from January 1, 2015.