English

Lukashenka accuses EU, USA of blocking Belarus' WTO entry

Alyaksandr Lukashenka has accused the European Union and the United States of blocking Belarus' accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"We have held [WTO entry] talks but run into a political fence," he said in an interview broadcast by the Mir Television and Radio Company of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on October 7.

"We were told that this is a purely trade, economic organization. That is not the case. It is politics that prevails there. And it is the EU and the United States that have built the fence in front of us for the reasons you know. They say that we have no human rights respect, that we are the last dictatorship stronghold and so on," Mr. Lukashenka said.

However, he said that there was no longer an urgent need for Belarus to join the global trading body following Russia's WTO entry.

"We will de facto work in the framework of the World Trade Organization, particularly considering that Russia is our main partner," he said. "That's why it's even better that we will gradually get used to these WTO rules."

Belarus, which has an export-orientated economy, is "dependent on the entire world" and "will have to join the WTO sooner or later," Mr. Lukashenka said. //BelaPAN