MINSK. Dec 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Sychyov believes that in assuring its national security, Belarus cannot relay solely on its membership in the CIS Collective Security Treaty.
"In ensuring our national interests and security, we cannot build our external policy around just one organization," Sychyov said while presenting the bill "On the Main Guidelines of Domestic and Foreign Policy" in parliament on Monday.
Having reminded lawmakers that the Collective Security Treaty comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, Sychyov said: "Imagine what a spectrum of various interests is present there."
"We rarely reach a consensus on the agenda of meetings held within the treaty's framework, because the interests of the Asian regions differ from the interests of Belarus and Russia," he said.
"We have a different view of partnership with NATO," Sychyov said.
The deputy minister rejected an alternative bill prepared by a group of deputies, describing it as "overly detailed".
Commenting on the alternative draft, he turned down proposals by some deputies the would define Russia as "a strategic partner of Belarus." The law should also not mention the republic's striving for the introduction of a single currency within the framework of the Russia-Belarus Union, he said.
The government-proposed bill was thus approved as the basis for the new law.