The decision whether new countries can join the SES has to be made only on the basis of economic interests, Alexander Lukashenko says

       The decision whether new countries can join the Single Economic Space has to be made only on the basis of economic interests, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told the interstate television and radio company Mir in an interview.
       The Belarusian head of state remarked that Kyrgyzstan was willing to become a SES member but the country’s WTO membership presented difficulties. “We would have gotten a huge hole in our space. There is one now but it is not as large as before the Russian Federation joined the WTO. So the question is more or less negated. Although in Kyrgyzstan, as far as I know, during talks they reset their demands: import what you want in any way you want”.
      “But it is not the thing. We have already formed some legal base of the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space. It comprises several dozens of serious documents that have become laws in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.
       “It is more complicated as far as Tajikistan is concerned, because Tajikistan has no common border with the Single Economic Space. But I think it is possible to find a solution,” said the Belarusian leader.