“Putin took me by the hand”: why Belarus joined the SCO

“Putin took him by the hand”: why Belarus joined the SCO Anzhelika Galesevich

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Belarus has become the tenth member country of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have a similar status in the organization.

It is the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin sought to integrate Minsk into the SCO, but Alexander Lukashenko was not against it, since he has his own interests. More details 24 Channel was told by the editor-in-chief of the website “Charter 97” Natalya Radzina.

“Putin led Belarus by the hand into such an organization. We know which states participate in the SCO – they are not the most democratic, they have close ties with Russia,” Radina noted.

What is Lukashenko's interest

According to Natalya Radina, Belarus's accession to the SCO will allow Alexander Lukashenko to promote himself within the country like “I’m not so and already illegitimate, with me they want to meet in the West and recognize countries like these.”

If you look at such cooperation from a practical perspective, then the trade turnover with the SCO member countries is quite insignificant. It is unlikely that this will help the Belarusian economy compensate for losses from the imposed sanctions and the stoppage of trade with Ukraine.

Perhaps Lukashenko is hoping for some loans from Shanghai Cooperation Organization. We need to talk about introducing secondary sanctions against the member countries of this organization if they support the illegitimate dictatorship and co-aggressor against Ukraine,” noted the editor-in-chief of the Charter 97 website.

Because India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan cooperate with the European Union and the United States. Accordingly, they must find leverage on these states so that they stop funding the criminal regimes of both Lukashenko and Putin.