European Forum

Lukashenko snubs Moscow summit signalling growing rift

On June 14th, Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenko did not attend a Moscow summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), raising the stakes in an escalating trade conflict with Russia.

Belarus' Foreign Ministry said Lukashenko decided not to attend because Russia was "openly discriminating" when last week it banned most Belarussian dairy goods. "Economy serves as the basis for our common security. But if Belarus's closest CSTO ally is trying ... to destroy this basis and de facto put the Belarussians on their knees, how can one talk about consolidating collective security in the CSTO space?" Lukashenko's press service said.

Lukashenko's snub prompted a rebuke from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who complained that the Belarussian leader had not even bothered to call to explain his absence. "I would like to say that leaders should act as partners in such a situation," Medvedev told reporters. "Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko did not call me on the telephone and tell me that he had made the decision not to come, but staff from his administration called us," he said. He also said Belarus' actions "excessively politicized" a technical trade issue.

Lukashenko has linked the ban on Belarussian dairy products to his reluctance to recognize the independence of Georgia's Moscow-backed regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russian authorities say the dairy products simply do not meet Russian quality and sanitary standards.

Four leaders of the six-nation Organization of the CSTO agreed at the one-day summit in Moscow to create a collective rapid response force tasked with protecting the territorial integrity, sovereignty and security of the treaty's member countries. The joint military task force was a Russian initiative that Moscow strongly pushed after the military conflict in Georgia last summer.

The two states that did not sign the agreement were Belarus and Uzbekistan. It was not clear Sunday what prevented Tashkent from approving the document.

Belarus was also  to take over the formal leadership of the CSTO from Armenia at the summit. Medvedev said Russia would assume the leadership until Belarus resumed its work in the group.

After the summit, Belarus' Foreign Ministry said all decisions made at the talks were illegitimate. Ministry spokesman Andrei Belov said Russian officials could not push through the summit agenda without Lukashenko because CSTO rules require the consensus of all member states on issues related to security.

Gas also has a role in the latest dispute. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin on June 11th inaugurated the second line of the Baltic Pipeline System, which will bypass Belarus in delivering Russian gas to Europe, depriving Minsk of up to $700,000 in annual revenues, or close to 5 % of the country's annual budget.

In response, Lukashenko ordered his government to consider introducing border and customs controls on the Russian border. Belarussian officials said on June 15th that they are prepared to do this swiftly.

Sergei Markov, a State Duma deputy with ruling United Russia, said on the same day that Lukashenko was "blackmailing the Kremlin by freezing his military and political cooperation in order to get economic perks."

Sources: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Reuters, The Moscow Times; photo: Reuters