Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 31 October (BelTA) – The discussions taking place during the meeting of the Core Group of the Munich Security Conference in Minsk touch upon topical regional issues, their discussion is very timely, BelTA learned from OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger on 31 October.

The OSCE secretary general described the conference in Minsk as a success. In his words, a very interesting exchange of opinions between Serbia and Kosovo took place on the sidelines of the meeting. Possible results of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and a possible resolution were mentioned. Thomas Greminger congratulated Belarus on managing to organize the talks between key figures. The discussion was a very timely one, stressed the OSCE secretary general.

In the same manner Thomas Greminger described the discussion on resolving the conflict in Ukraine’s east. Minsk has become a place where regular meetings of the trilateral contact group on Ukraine take place. Ways to make the group’s work more effective were discussed during the conference.

The Munich Security Conference has been held every year since 1963. It was initially envisaged as a dialogue about politics between the Federal Republic of Germany and the USA. Later on the conference started drawing the attention of representatives of political and military circles of other countries. Nowadays the Munich Security Conference is one of the world’s most representative and authoritative forums in the area of security policy and military cooperation. Top-tier politicians, heads of state from Europe, USA, and Asia, defense ministers, top NATO and OSCE officials, security experts, representatives of military industrial concerns, and top reporters take part in the conference. Representatives of the private sector demonstrate stronger interest in the forum every year.

The first meeting of the Core Group of the Munich Security Conference took place in 2009. Such meetings are held as an exclusive private dialogue involving high-level participants. They are part of the Munich Security Conference and set the tone for consequent discussions during the conference later on. Security architecture in the region hosting the meeting has traditionally been the focus of attention of the core group. The previous meeting took place in Washington, USA on 8 May 2017. Previous meetings had taken place in Moscow, Beijing, Doha, New Delhi, Vienna, Tehran, and Addis Ababa.