Belarus supports idea of creating CIS+ format - Lukashenko

MINSK. Sept 30 (Interfax) - The Belarusian authorities support an initiative to establish a CIS+ format, President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"Belarus welcomes the initiative to create a CIS+ format as a new platform for multilateral cooperation between the CIS member states and international partners," the BelTA state-run news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying at a meeting with the heads of the governmental delegations attending meetings of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council and the CIS Council of Heads of Government in Minsk on Tuesday.

Belarus sees the CIS and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as serious participants in efforts to create a fair multipolar world order, he said.

"Actually, it is through the EAEU and the CIS that the multi-level mechanism of regional interaction meant to bind together integration processes was formed," Lukashenko said.

The CIS needs to enhance its standing as an authoritative organization that contributes to the strengthening of equal political and humanitarian relations, while the EAEU should become an example of building firm economic ties based on the principles of openness and mutual benefit, he said.

Lukashenko called on the CIS and EAEU countries to stick together and not to run in different directions.

"No one is waiting for us anywhere. The main thing is our unity, to safeguard what was achieved by the prior generations," he said.

In October 2024, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed creating a CIS+ format to expand the organization's regional ties.

The observer and partner statuses were established within the CIS in 2023, which demonstrated the openness and maturity of the organization, Tokayev said.

"As a follow-up to this institutional work, I suggest considering founding the CIS+ format. This platform will become a foundation for expanding regional ties of the Commonwealth," he said.