I think it would be nice if Belarus was in the EU but remained very close with Russia at the same time.

I wonder if it would be possible to be in that Russian speaking free trade area I've read about, and in EU at the same time? Or would they be mutually exclusive...?

Belarus is a perfectly sized country for the EU, both geographically and population-wise. But I doubt Lukashenko is interested, PLUS the EU is very strict on some criteria relating to democracy, human rights and economy which Belarus doesn't meet at the moment (yes I know that this is hypocrisy and double standards..... )

But if Belarus met the EUs criteria I don't think there would be any problem at all; probably the application would be fast-tracked. Some of the Eastern European countries were fast tracked into the EU before they actually met the economic criteria in full, like Romania.

Like I said before; I support the idea of the EU simply because it guarantees peace and helps us in Europe remain competitive and strong enough to cope with the US and East Asia influence. But I see Russia as a fellow European country and for that reason I don't support anything that would build walls between Russia and the rest of Europe.

But Belarus is not a candidate country or even a "potential candidate country" at the moment, becuase it has not even expressed any interest.