Samarkand summit: Why should Belarus raise its status in SCO?

Everything is ready in Uzbekistan for the meeting of the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. On Friday, Samarkand will host the unification summit. As early as tomorrow, the President of Belarus will arrive in Uzbekistan on a working visit. The country declared its intention to raise its status in the SCO from observer to full member of the great Shanghai family. Alexander Lukashenko will address the Council of Heads of State at an enlarged session to discuss the priorities of cooperation of Belarus within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Minsk always comes up with specific initiatives aimed at strengthening political and economic security. Simply put, it calls not to compete, but to cooperate and jointly respond to new unprecedented challenges.

The U.S. does not want to recognize new centers of power. Russia and China are not willing to put up with dictates of the West. The world tensions are only growing. Alexander Lukashenko came up with the initiative to strengthen cooperation between the SCO and the CSTO last year realizing that global security issues are coming to the fore.

Security issues

Alexander Volfovich, State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus: Unfortunately, negative trends in the security sphere today are increasing and affect all countries - the influence of America and the collective West, interference in the internal affairs of many countries. The work of the Shanghai organization, its authority should affect the peace and stability of these countries. This will enable Belarus to fully participate in the work of the SCO in the present-day conditions, in all economic, financial and humanitarian programs, which will promote peace and stability.

The SCO is the only organization capable of opposing a unipolar world order. The organization is more than 20 years old. At first it included Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Later, Uzbekistan joined. Five years ago, India and Pakistan were added. And now there is a new wave of interest and expansion. Iran plans to become a full and permanent member. Belarus announced the same intention this summer.

Expert: Belarus is a Western gateway for Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Andrei Koshkin, Military Political Scientist, Associate Professor of Political Science and Sociology Department, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics: "Belarus is already a Western state, so actively joining the Asian landscape. Belarus is, as a matter of fact, the Western gateway for Shanghai Cooperation Organization. I am deeply convinced that after some time, perhaps, in 10 years or more, the European states will seek membership in this organization. This is simply objective, because Asia is becoming the center of world efforts, and this can already be seen on a number of statistics."

Uzbekistan is waiting for the Belarusian leader

Belarus became an active participant of the organization in 2010. at first as a dialogue partner. Our President regularly attends the meetings of the council of heads of the association and puts forward the initiatives that find support, from food security to nuclear safety. On Friday, Alexander Lukashenko will announce the priorities of Belarus' interaction in the SCO format.

Lukashenko will meet with his foreign counterparts on the sidelines of the summit. Alexander Lukashenko has several meetings on his schedule at once, including with the host of the summit, Shavkat Mirziyoyev.