Events

MINSK, 24 October (BelTA) – Belarus would like sides, which are at odds with each other, to try and mend relations. Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei made the statement in an interview with the Financial Times, BelTA has learned.

Vladimir Makei said: “We don’t represent the views of Washington, Moscow, or Brussels. We represent Minsk’s views. We would like to find positive balance in relations with Russia and our European partners. We would not like new dividing lines to appear in our region. We are in favor of building relations between the sides, which are currently in disagreement with each other.”

In his words, it was the reason why Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko came forward with the idea of “integration of integrations” several years ago. “What does it mean? It means that we should establish proper cooperation not only between countries but also between integration associations, the structures that exist in various parts of the globe. In Europe it is the European Union on the one hand and the Eurasian Economic Union on the other hand. We have suggested that our partners should establish ties between these two integration organizations,” said the Belarusian minister of foreign affairs.

At the same time the diplomat noted it does not mean that concrete negotiations will begin right away in order to sign the relevant agreement as soon as possible. “But we need to discuss matters of mutual interest, matters, which are important for ordinary people. For instance, how we can bring closer to each other our technical standards in various areas and customs rules. By the way, Minsk hosted an international conference in October 2016 with assistance of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. The conference was focused on establishing ties between the European and Eurasian integration processes,” said Vladimir Makei. “Some people in Europe may not like the idea due to the negative attitude towards Russia but we believe that the idea is very sensible. Sooner or later we will come to understand the need for tighter relations between different integration processes.”