Media Focuses on Lukashenko and Putin at CSTO-EAEC Summit

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000682

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON EINV WTRO USTR BO
SUBJECT: Media Focuses on Lukashenko and Putin at CSTO-EAEC Summit

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1. SUMMARY: On June 23, the heads of state and foreign ministers
of countries belonging to the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) met
in Minsk for the organizations' tandem summits. Belarusian media
coverage focused heavily on statements by Belarusian President
Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the major themes
of the summit. These themes included Uzbekistan's accession into
the EAEC, the 2007 EAEC budget, the status of the EAEC customs
union, EAEC's cooperation and integration with other regional
economic organizations, future military-technical cooperation
within the CSTO, and threats facing the organizations' member
states. However, conspicuously absent from the media coverage was
any mention of bilateral meetings between Presidents Putin and
Lukashenko, raising the possibility that pressing issues such as
2007 gas prices for Belarus and Union State negotiations were not
discussed or resolved. END SUMMARY.

Collective Security Treaty Organization
--------------


2. The foreign ministers of the CSTO approved a draft declaration
calling for measures to improve the efficiency of the alliance.
[Note: the CSTO includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, and Tajikistan.] They also discussed the military and
political situation in the CSTO region and approved plans for
consultations on foreign policy issues and joint actions to fight
illegal trafficking in weapons. The foreign ministers agreed to
hold their next meeting in November.


3. Belarus' Foreign Minister Sergey Martynov said that Belarus,
which assumed the rotating CSTO presidency at the summit, aims to
enable the CSTO to respond to an array of challenges ranging from
industrial accidents to NATO enlargement. Martynov also identified
new external threats to CSTO security such as illegal migration and
trafficking in illicit drugs and weapons.


4. While speaking at the CSTO summit on June 23, President
Lukashenko identified increasing the combat capabilities of the
Belarusian-Russian Regional Group of Forces as a principal CSTO
goal. Lukashenko argued that the Group is essential to maintaining
peace and stability in the region and guaranteeing the collective
security of all CSTO member states. Speaking at a news conference
following the CSTO and EAEC summits, Lukashenko described Belarus
as "120 percent ready to sacredly guard" the western border of the
organization.


5. Lukashenko lauded the Concept of the CSTO Military-Technical
Cooperation Program 2005-2010 as a considerable step toward
integrating the member states' defense industries. He advocated
further enhancing cooperation among the defense ministries and
security and law-enforcement agencies of CSTO members and called
for a system for coordinating member states' foreign-policy
activities. According to Lukashenko, during its tenure as CSTO
chair, Belarus plans to create a system of joint-response to
natural and man-made emergencies. Lukashenko suggested conducting
an exercise in Belarus in 2007 to practice the management of an
emergency caused by an act of terrorism.


6. The CSTO summit took place during a joint Belarusian-Russian
military exercise called "Union Shield 2006." During post-summit
coverage, Russian Defense Minister and Vice Prime Minister Sergey
Ivanov, who observed the final series of maneuvers on June 24,
reportedly commented that the exercise was neither aggressive nor
directed against any state. [Note: The exercise involved a
hypothetical armed conflict between the fictional countries of
Dviniia, played by Russia and Belarus, and Bugiia, which attempted
to annex part of Dviniia.] Belarusian Defense Minister Leonid
Maltsev mentioned that the exercise was practice for defending the
borders of the Union State.

Eurasian Economic Community
--------------


7. The EAEC heads of state formally recognized Uzbekistan's EAEC
accession and adopted resolutions concerning the EAEC's 2005
budget, adjustments to the 2006 budget, and the 2007 budgetary
policy. [Note: the EAEC consists of Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.] They also
approved reports on integrating the Central Asian Cooperation
Organization into the EAEC and on the progress of domestic
procedures required for EAEC interstate agreements. Meanwhile,
high-level officials representing the central banks of EAEC members

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held a meeting in Bishkeck, Kyrgyzstan to discuss exchange rate
polices, monetary policies, payment systems, and the creation of a
single date base.


8. In general, President Lukashenko's public statements at the
EAEC meetings were positive. For example, Lukashenko claimed that
EAEC had significantly contributed to averting the disintegration
of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). He highlighted
EAEC efforts at integration with other international organizations,
including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation organization. Furthermore, Lukashenko praised
initiatives to form a single EAEC transport space within the bloc.
He also praised the EAEC's annual report to heads of state.


9. However, at times Lukashenko was critical of the EAEC. He
remarked that the EAEC must reach agreements on specific projects
rather than just conceptual frameworks. Lukashenko said the EAEC
should seek a greater role in the world economy and that EAEC
countries should continue coordinating their accession to the World
Trade Organization. He asserted that Uzbekistan's accession has
rendered EAEC objectives more ambitious.


10. Lukashenko also expressed concern regarding the slow pace of
creating EAEC's customs union. He claimed that overall unification
of customs duties rates remains at 62 percent and described member
states' efforts to unify rates as insufficient. Lukashenko urged
EAEC members to complete all domestic legislation required for the
customs union by the end of 2006.


11. Lukashenko concurred with Kazakh President Nazarbayev that the
EAEC should create a commission to monitor the implementation of
EAEC agreements and resolutions. Lukashenko said that the
commission should establish common customs tariff, external trade,
energy, and transportation policies. Lukashenko called on the EAEC
to develop a common energy policy including cooperative development
of renewable energy sources and energy transit. [Note:
Independent media reported that Belarusian EAEC representative
Andrey Kobyakov stated the EAEC had made no progress with respect
to integration of energy and transportation systems.]


12. During the summit, Lukashenko formally passed the one-year
EAEC rotating chairmanship to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Lukashenko also presented Belarus' Order of Friendship between
Peoples to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Lukashenko
ordered the award on June 2 by presidential edict in recognition of
Lavrov's "considerable contribution to the strengthening of
friendly relations and cooperation between Belarus and Russia, as
well as to the formation of the [Belarusian-Russian] Union State."


13. Following a joint press conference after the summit, President
Lukashenko, Armenian President Kocharian, Kazakh President
Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President Bakiyev, Uzbek President Karimov, and
Russian President Putin left for Silichi, a new sports and
recreation center 40 kilometers outside Minsk for what official
sources called "no-necktie" talks. Belarusian Television showed
them clad in traditional Belarusian shirts.

Putin's Reaction
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14. Pro-Lukashenko media, such as the newspaper "Belarus Segodna,"
tended to highlight encounters between President Lukashenko and
Russian President Vladimir Putin with footage and large color still
photographs. Putin publicly thanked Lukashenko for what he called
his "big contribution" to the EAEC integration process. He lauded
the accession of Uzbekistan as an important step toward EAEC's
merger with the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO),
which he predicted would yield a "serious positive effect." Putin
also called for establishing closer cooperation between the EAEC
and the CSTO to protect the integration processes from various
threats. He predicted that the adoption of the concept of the
EAEC's external activities would strengthen relations between the
EAEC and other international organizations such as the CIS and the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Comment
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15. As expected, the CSTO and EAEC Summits produced little
concrete action or results. Despite the rhetoric, the heads of
state only agreed that economic, political, and military
cooperation and integration are important and should be continued.

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Interestingly, there was no state media coverage of possible
separate talks between Presidents Putin and Lukashenko, which is
unusual given Putin's rare visit to Minsk and the number of
pressing bilateral issues. This glaring hole in the media coverage
raises the possibility that the two leaders did not meet separately
or, if they did, they were unable to break the gridlock on such
issues as gas prices for Belarus and/or Union State negotiations.
The independent press highlighted Putin's apparent displeasure and
boredom in particular with being forced to wear a traditional
Belarusian shirt and straw hat.

KROL