Evgenia Vojko: “Putin will speed up process of uniting Russia and Belarus”

• 28.05.2008, 16:20

Vladimir Putin’s appointment to the position of the head of the Council of ministers of the “union state” can lead to losing independence by Belarus.

Russian political analysts are convinced that appointment of Vladimir Putin would give a new momentum to development and establishment of bilateral relations.

Thus, as said by a foreign policy expert of the International political situation of Russia center Evgeniya Vojko, a number of seriously differing points of views still exist between Moscow and Minsk.

“Speaking about prospects, I would like to note that Vladimir Putin will speed up the process of uniting with the aim to bring it to a higher level, to give it a kind of formality, to turn a half-mythical union into a real organisation,” Vojko explained to Vzglyad newspaper.

Evgeniya Vojko believes that at the informal level Belarus is viewed as a ground for an asymmetric response of Russia to deploying US antimissile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

“It is possible that this argument will be used by Minsk for optimization of its own positions,” the analyst supposes. If Belarus would offer a site for Russian missiles, Russia will make some concessions in the question of uniting as well.