Milk War Strains Russia-Belarus Ties
MOSCOW — Furious over a Russian ban on imported Belarusian milk products, the president of Belarus on Sunday boycotted a planned summit meeåting of post-Soviet states whose centerpiece was the start of a joint military force formed by Russia and four of its closest allies.
As the so-called milk war with Moscow moved into its second week, the president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, released a statement saying that the ban “effectively forces Belarusians to their knees” and that unless it is dropped, going ahead with the planned military force would be a “mockery of common sense.”
Mr. Lukashenko’s abrupt no-show is bound to irritate Moscow, which was hoping to consolidate ties with its neighbors and end their flirtation with Western allies. President Dmitri A. Medvedev hastily assumed the presidency of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which Belarus was scheduled to take over on Sunday, and inaugurated the military union in Moscow over Mr. Lukashenko’s protests. ....
The collective security agreement — which some see as an eventual counterweight to NATO — was signed by the leaders of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. It was not signed by Uzbekistan, which has raised objections to some provisions, or Belarus. Andrei Popov, a spokesman for Belarus’ Foreign Ministry, told the Interfax news agency that the agreement was not valid because there was no consensus among members....
While Russian officials said the ban had no political overtones, Belarusian politicians have said they are being punished for defying Russian orders.
One outstanding issue is Belarus’ refusal, so far, to formally recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two breakaway enclaves of Georgia, whose independence so far has been recognized by only Russia and Nicaragua. In an interview with the BelTA news agency earlier this month, Mr. Lukashenko said Russian officials made a $500 million loan contingent on recognition — something Russian officials deny.
Belarus has long been financially dependent on Russia, as Mr. Medvedev pointed out dryly in his remarks on Sunday, but that relationship, too, is under strain. In late May, Russia’s finance minister, Alexei Kudrin, withheld the $500 million, the last installment of a $2 billion loan, warning that the country could face default by the end of this year unless it overhauls its economic policy. Mr. Lukashenko reacted angrily.
“If it’s not working out with Russia, let’s not bow down, let’s not whine and weep,” he told a gathering of economic officials the next day, BelTA reported. “Let’s look for our happiness in a different part of the planet.”
(Note: there are also articles today on the Belarus-Russia tensions in other major newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune and Washington Post
.This article appeared in
Belarusian Review, Vol. 21, No. 2
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Copyright 2009 Belarusian Review
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Source: Excerpts from an article in The New York Times, June 15, 2009
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Ellen Barry
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