BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

08/10/2008

Russia, Belarus to unify air defense: reports

Agence France-Presse

Russia and Belarus will unify their air-defense systems to counter NATO in an agreement to be signed next month, a senior Russian official was quoted as saying yesterday.

"I have no doubt" that on November 2 the two countries will sign an deal to form a united air-defense system, Pavel Borodin, head of the Russia-Belarus regional bloc, was quoted as saying by Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies.

"In the military sense, this is essentially a defense against NATO," added Borodin, secretary of the Union of Russia and Belarus, speaking ahead of a meeting yesterday of defense officials from the two countries.

The Union of Russia and Belarus was created in 1997 with the stated goal of reunifying the two former Soviet republics, but progress toward integration has been slow and the union is viewed by many as largely symbolic.

An air-defense agreement would be a major step forward for the bloc, which has largely focused on trade issues and visa agreements and has done little in terms of defense.

The meeting "will enable the implementation of tasks aimed at creating a defense system of the Union State within the framework of a united defense space," RIA Novosti quoted Serdyukov as saying.

Source:

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=758808

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