Opinions & Interviews

The press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs quoted Vladimir Makei as saying in the interview that in the public opinion of the West and many Western mass media Belarus was and is still demonized to a large degree. “But there are no more problems in our country than in some other countries, which are considered democratic. The thing is that some countries have larger resources and get fewer complaints. But it is absolutely wrong. It is necessary to treat all countries with similar problems equally,” believes the Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Vladimir Makei attributed close interest in Belarus’ affairs to the country’s proximity to the European Union. “This logic is hard to understand. Yes, we are closer to the European Union, but even when Belarus felt the brunt of sanctions, we took care of the security of the European Union border. We suppressed illegal migration, transboundary crimes, we fought against trafficking in persons and drugs smuggling,” noted the Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“Belarus is the only country in the post-Soviet space that has had no armed conflicts after the Soviet Union collapsed. We have no territorial claims with regard to the neighbors. This is why we cannot comprehend the artificial demonization of Belarus in the Western public opinion. This is why we have always stated that sanctions are not the way to resolve problems. The logic of the dialogue has to prevail,” stressed the official.