Artificial barriers between EAEU countries may discredit very idea of this union - Atambayev
ASTANA. May 31 (Interfax) - Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has asked head of Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member countries not to impose restrictions, or to build barriers threatening integration processes and stability of this union.
"While supporting the format of this cooperation, I would like to call against measures, which can endanger the achievement of principal goals and tasks of the integration, and to suggest that efforts be focused on the elimination of barriers, which can discredit the very idea of this Union," Atambayev said at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council of the Eurasian Economic Union in Astana on Tuesday.
"Although the integration has positive aspects (...), I wish to support Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko, who says there are lots of various barriers between our countries," he said.
"I have mentioned a number of such matters in the narrow circle: the use of a unified rail tariff, Kazakhstan's limits on Kyrgyz potato imports, the lifting of veterinarian control on the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border, transit of goods routed to Kyrgyzstan across the Russian territory, and some others," the Kyrgyz president said.
He said he "was grateful to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Russian President Vladimir Putin for their full understanding, and promise to support and resolve those issues shortly."
"The Union has a huge potential, it has achieved certain results and has made certain achievements, but there are also failures, losses and artificial barriers," Atambayev said.
"It seems this is the way it should be in a young organism, but all the heads of state and peoples must clearly understand that our people have no other alternative, and we are responsible for the future of the EAEU, the future of our countries," Atambayev said.
"I believe in the EAEU future," the Kyrgyz president said.