BELARUS - RUSSIA UNION: A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO FORM SINGLE DEFENSE REGION

Interview of the President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, by Military Parade magazine
 

As a politician, I regard it my top priority task to create favorable conditions for, and remove obstacles to, the mutually advantageous integration of elements of the Russian and Belarusian defense industries.

Although the end of the Cold War has removed the threat of a global military conflict, it, unfortunately, has not solved many problems related to international security. Avoiding the need to solve major problems by force has not yet become a norm in international affairs. For example, I can cite the developments on the Balkan Peninsula, armed conflicts in the post-Soviet regions, and the Iraq issue.

In the world today, one can distinctly see some countries’ egoistic claims to global or regional leadership; policies of double standards; interference in other countries’ domestic affairs; threats of force; and other negative developments in interstate relations. Our two countries cannot but express concern over NATO’s eastward expansion. Now that the Warsaw Pact has been disbanded and there is no threat of military aggression in Europe, NATO’s expansion cannot be justified.

This is why both Belarus and Russia equally realize that their armed forces remain a reliable guarantor for the protection of their vital interests.

Ever since we became sovereign states, Russia and Belarus have never ceased their military cooperation. However, this cooperation has not fully met our capabilities and security tasks. The establishment of the Belarus-Russia Union has provided a unique opportunity to form a single defense region, as well as to unite our defense potentials on the basis of equal responsibility and respect for one another’s national interests.
We have already made major practical steps in this direction: we have signed the Concept of the Joint Defense Policy of Belarus and Russia, the Treaty on Military Cooperation, and the Agreement on Joint Measures to Ensure Regional Security in the Military Sphere.

The above-mentioned conceptual and legal documents have enabled us to launch meaningful efforts to accomplish concrete tasks which are intended to ensure military security for the Belarus-Russia Union. We now hold meetings between our Defense Ministry Boards, plan joint operational and combat training, and are working on a joint defense infrastructure, as well as other issues.

Of course, joint security-building measures require correcting our military doctrines, bringing our national defense laws closer together, and making concerted efforts to carry out military reforms in our countries. These measures have priority in our advancement toward a single defense space. Simultaneously, we are developing interaction in air defense, personnel training, the repair of armaments and military equipment, information exchanges and, of course, in all fields related to the defense sector.

The Republic of Belarus accounted for a considerable part of the overall potential of the Soviet Union’s military-industrial complex. For Military Parade readers it would be interesting to know your opinion about the scope and nature of interaction between Russia and Belarus in the military-technical field, and in the development of armaments and military equipment for their armed forces and foreign armies.

To begin with, let me cite some examples from the recent past. More than 100 Belarussian enterprises supplied products for naval ships. Belarus, together with Ukraine, produced a unique anti-aircraft missile system, the S-300, which has no rivals in the world today. Belarussian-made wheeled and tracked chassis were used to mount armaments and military equipment for all services in the USSR Armed Forces.
Now Russia alone produces 17 percent of what it used to produce in former years.

The figure for Belarus is one to three percent. So, the defense industries of the former Soviet republics in isolation tap only a third of their production potentials.
Today, Belarus has to use intermediaries for Russian services, and thus pay much more, to buy from Russia an antiaircraft missile system or communication assets for our united — I would like to emphasize this word — air defense system.

Who stands to gain from all that — our defense capability, our arms exporters, or people working in the defense industry? The answer is unequivocal. The only profiteers are our rivals in international arms markets, and forces that wish to make the post-Soviet region into a submissive, raw-material vassal.

Being a realist, I understand that it is impossible to completely restore the
military-industrial complex of the ex-USSR. Unfortunately, much has been lost for good in both research and production. At the same time, we still have retained great potential. For example, Belarus has introduced new military vehicles; automatic battle-management systems; computer network protection systems; optical devices; as well as many other products. This is why, as a politician, I regard it my top priority task to create favorable conditions for, and remove obstacles to, the mutually advantageous integration of elements of the Russian and Belarusian defense industries.

This task can be accomplished, above all, by preparing joint (and in the future, common) defense orders by the two governments, drawing up joint programs for developing and producing armaments, and coordinating research and development efforts which would include work on state-of-the-art defense technologies. The guarantee of success lies in the adoption of a joint budget for the Russian-Belarussian Union. Part of the budget is planned to be used for the above-mentioned purposes. Russian President Boris Yeltsin and I consider the joint budget the Union’s greatest achievement. In 1998, several research and production programs of the Russian and Belarussian defense industries will be funded from this budget. As the budget grows, and we plan to increase it, the range of defense programs will broaden. There are also plans to establish a Belarusian-Russian financial and industrial group on the basis of enterprises of the electronic and instrument-making industries. We are close to completing the establishment of the BelRusAuto interstate financial and industrial group. These are only a few examples of the present-day interaction between our countries’ defense industries.

As for the export of armaments and military equipment, the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation are not rivals but business partners. There are all grounds for that.

- Belarusian defense industry enterprises are now fulfilling the difficult task of converting to civilian production. How does cooperation with Russia promote these efforts?

Belarus cannot accomplish this conversion task on its own, because enterprises of the Belarussian defense industry used to be part of the single and indivisible research and production complex. An ill-conceived conversion can bring about nothing but the collapse of enterprises, and the degeneration of highly skilled specialists. This is why we expect cooperation with Russia, and above all, certainty, as to what we should keep for our joint defense and arms export needs and in what amounts, as well as how great our mobilization potentials should be. The answers to these questions must be found in implementing the Concept of the Joint Defense Policy of the Belarus-Russia Union.

The conversion program also provides for the salvaging of armaments and ammunition. Actually all ammunition depots in Belarus are overstocked. They comprise thousands of tons of ammunition with expiring shelf lives, or ammunition for already discarded weapon systems. Naturally, this ammunition poses a danger and must be removed as soon as possible. Russia is facing a similar problem, too. What’s the use of building duplicate facilities for ammunition salvaging in our countries, or spending hard currency to buy foreign licenses or production lines? Our cooperation in this field will not only save us money but it will also help solve the ammunition salvaging problem for years to come.

Joint conversion projects must be funded also from the budget of the Belarus-Russia Union. Three such projects are already now being financed by the Main Department for Special Programs of the Union’s Executive Committee.

Over the past few years, Belarus has adopted about 50 conversion-related research programs. As the number of Russian defense industry enterprises is to be more than halved, we are ready to share our experience and establish ties with enterprises converting to civilian production. Here, again, Russian-Belarusian financial and industrial groups can play a significant role because all conversion matters are related, in one way or another, to investment. I would like Russian investors not to keep aloof from the solution of these problems.

Military Parade is Russia’s only magazine offering extensive coverage of Russia’s military and military-technical cooperation with other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States and other countries. Our magazine can become a major instrument in providing information and advertising needs of the Belarusian defense industry enterprises. We would be very grateful to you for any comment on this

Today, business cannot exist without advertising. Those who win are able to convey information about their products or programs to potential consumers or partners faster and in a more efficient way. Unfortunately, we have not yet learned to take advantage of all the opportunities offered by advertising, which falls on the profits of our manufacturers and developers.

There is also a major objective reason for our lagging behind in advertising exposure — many of our enterprises and design bureaus simply do not have enough funds. In a situation like this, cooperation in advertising can help them a lot. If your magazine is ready to offer business cooperation with Belarusian defense-industry enterprises, and publish their feature articles and ads, I can only welcome such an initiative.