Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 10 October (BelTA) – Belarus is a country that helps build bridges of trust and mutual understanding, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger has told the Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned.

“Your country plays an exceptionally important role in several security dimensions at a time. This is of course the well-known trilateral contact group. It is real platform for maintaining a dialogue on the Minsk agreements. Even more so: Belarus has always been a ‘bridge builder’, it helps build bridges of trust and mutual understanding. This role is very important, because the split between East and West is getting deeper, unfortunately,” Thomas Greminger said.

In his words, Belarus puts forward initiatives aimed at finding common ground in order to respond to challenges. In this regard, the OSCE Secretary General noted that he is looking forward to attending the Munich Security Conference Core Group meeting in Minsk. “I hope we will be able to align, integrate the ideas proposed by Belarus with the approaches voiced by Chairman of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger who is undoubtedly a great expert in international security matters,” he added.

Commenting on the initiative of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to consider discussing a new Helsinki process within the framework of the OSCE, Thomas Greminger said that this matter was discussed in the morning of 9 October. “Scholars, experts, diplomats and governments – all together – should think it through in order to use this time in the best way and to prepare this initiative to be launched at the right moment,” he said.

The OSCE Secretary General noted that the changing world order is facing an increasing number of security threats. Violent conflicts returned to Europe to add to transnational threats: terrorism, violent extremism, cyber attacks, and all kinds of trafficking, as well as uncontrolled migration and climate change. No state can handle this ‘bundle’ of problems and challenges on its own. It is an absolutely clear call to team up and look for solutions together,” Thomas Greminger said.