Opinions & Interviews

EU, U.S. pledge support to Belarus with WTO accession

MINSK, 11 July (BelTA) – The European Union and the Unites States will support Belarus in its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said at a meeting to discuss Belarus’ priorities in foreign policy at the present stage on 11 July, BelTA has learned.

“Belarus has made substantial progress in bilateral talks with the WTO members. The country has finished negotiations with 12 states and signed protocols with Japan and South Korea in April. We are now holding substantive negotiations with another 13 WTO members, including the EU and the U.S. The important thing is that we have managed to muster the support of the EU and the U.S. in our WTO accession campaign,” Vladimir Makei clarified.

He noted Belarus has done significant work towards WTO accession in pursuance of the Belarusian president’s instructions. “The eighth meeting of the WTO Working Party on Belarus’ accession was held in Geneva in January 2017, for the first time since 2005. As a result of the session, a decision was made to work out a final document to outline all the conditions under which Belarus must accede to the WTO. The ninth session of the working party is scheduled for October,” Vladimir Makei pointed out.

He emphasized that Belarus has not violated the terms of the treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union. “In the light of the new political and economic situation and the work that has been done, the updated approaches to the WTO accession will be worked out and submitted for consideration to the Belarusian president,” the minister added.

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