Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 19 June (BelTA) – Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei took part in the eighth annual meeting of the foreign ministers of the European Union member states and the Eastern Partnership participating states in Luxembourg on 19 June, BelTA has learned. Vladimir Makei was invited to participate in the event by High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told BelTA.

During the plenary session of the ministerial meeting Vladimir Makei cited specific facts that confirm the effectiveness of the policy in favor of cooperation between Belarus and the European Union. Vladimir Makei called for Brussels and European capitals to continue the policy in favor of a dialogue and cooperation with Minsk in the bilateral and multilateral formats. Vladimir Makei said he regretted the fact that problems in bilateral relations between Belarus and several European Union member states had been elevated to multilateral platforms. Among those problems he mentioned the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant and the refusal to let Belarus accede to some conventions of the Council of Europe. Vladimir Makei mentioned that using the principle of solidarity in the European Union to put pressure on other countries was counterproductive.

Apart from that, Vladimir Makei drew attention to Belarus’ idea to launch a new global peacekeeping process for the sake of agreeing mutually acceptable conditions of co-existence of nations while taking into account interests of small and medium countries. Vladimir Makei stressed the importance of restoring trust between nations instead of establishing new dividing lines. The official also spoke in favor of advancing interaction between the European integration platform and the Eurasian one.

Vladimir Makei mentioned it was advisable to preserve and develop the Eastern Partnership as an initiative designed to achieve concrete practical results. He put forward a number of Belarusian proposals so that they could be taken into account as part of preparations for the Eastern Partnership summit, which will take place in Brussels on 24 November 2017.

Vladimir Makei also took part in a meeting of the heads of the delegations of the Eastern Partnership participating states with Federica Mogherini and Johannes Hahn. Attention was paid to the military and political situation in the region, counteraction of global threats, including terrorism, cybercrimes, and climate changes.

Vladimir Makei also held a number of working meetings with top officials of European agencies and ministries of foreign affairs of the European Union member states and the Eastern Partnership participating states.