Opinions & Interviews

“We have developed the concept of this proposal, the initiative of our president. We have held consultations with representatives of a number of countries, and I must say that our explanations and proposals find a positive response among many of our counterparts and partners. We are working on the implementation of this idea. I am confident that it will definitely be welcomed. We will work closely with the leading geopolitical players and with the relevant regional and international organizations on the matter,” Vladimir Makei said.

The minister stated, however, that Belarus’ idea to launch a new negotiation process, similar to the Helsinki one, is still viewed cautiously for various reasons. “Someone thinks that we want to legitimize the current status quo in our region and in the world as a whole. Someone, on the contrary, thinks that we want to promote some things and positions that will benefit some party, West or East,” the diplomat explained.

According to him, some countries are now adopting new national security strategies, which contain frankly confrontational positions, military doctrines, which do not put peace and stability first. “Today it is important to begin a dialogue on how to get away from the confrontational rhetoric that can be seen in our region and worldwide,” the minister stressed.

According to Vladimir Makei, such a course of events in the world can have a negative impact on Belarus. “As an average state in the center of Europe, we cannot survive in the era of confrontations and some political, God forbid, military turbulence and discord. We know what the Second World War is. We lost a third of our nation in it. The history has taught us that such conflicts need to be avoided. This is the explanation of our head of state’s proposal to start a process similar to the Helsinki one. We call it a new Helsinki Process, or Helsinki-2.

“We would like to leave this confrontational rhetoric behind. We would like to talk more about what unites us so that we were not on the dividing line between two blocs, rival factions or geopolitical players. Today’s situation looks exactly like that, and we feel it. Moreover, these are not just some political or military consequences, these are negative economic consequences for our country,” the minister said.