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Belarus suggests establishing Eastern Partnership bank

Photo courtesy of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

MINSK, 13 May (BelTA) – Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei has suggested setting up a special branch for the Eastern Partnership (EaP) projects at the European Investment Bank or a specialized bank of the Eastern Partnership. Vladimir Makei put forward this proposal as he took part in the Eastern Partnership ministerial meeting that brought together EU foreign ministers and their counterparts from the Eastern Partnership countries in Brussels on 13 May, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Vladimir Makei suggested implementing big infrastructure projects as part of the action plan to invest in trans-European transportation network. He also called for easing trade with the European Union, including for non-associated partner states.

The minister suggested identifying ambitious, but realistic priorities for the Eastern Partnership for the period after 2020. “By 2030, for example, we could triple the export of the EaP member states to the EU and the EU’s investments in the EaP, and double the number of jobs created by the EU in the EaP member states. We could as well implement at least one energy-efficiency project in every city,” he said.

Speaking about trans-border mobility, Vladimir Makei urged to remove artificial formalities for crossing the EU border, as due to these formalities people have to wait up to ten hours and trucks up to several days in queues in order to cross the border.

The foreign minister called for stepping up digital cooperation and developing a regional agreement on personal data protection. An Eastern Partnership IT school can be set up in Minsk on the model of the EaP school in Tbilisi. He also urged to invest more efforts in promoting entrepreneurship, small and medium-sized enterprises.

The minister told the participants of the meeting that Belarus is ready to host a high-level event timed to the tenth anniversary of the Eastern Partnership. 

Vladimir Makei also met with the foreign ministers of the EU and the EaP member states to discuss bilateral relations and Belarus-EU cooperation prospects. Apart from that, he invited his partners from the EU and the EaP participating states to visit the 2nd European Games due in Minsk on 21-30 June 2019.

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