Belarus sees great potential in cooperation with EU

Photo: belta.by

Belarus sees great potential in cooperation with the European Union, Belarus’ Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Oleg Kravchenko said at the 17th Minsk Forum highlighting Belarus’ place in Europe, opportunities for foreign policy, economy, civil society, and culture. “The analysis of the recent years shows that contacts have intensified in all areas. Visits of EU commissioners and foreign ministers to Belarus have moved from the category of sensations into the category of everyday routine,” said Oleg Kravchenko. “Our talks are increasingly focused on practical issues of mutual interest.” As for bilateral relations with Germany, the deputy minister called milestones the visit of Vice Chancellor, Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Sigmar Gabriel to Belarus in 2017 to participate in the 15th Minsk Forum, the visit of Federal President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Belarus, and also the visit of Belarus Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei to Berlin. According to Oleg Kravchenko, important agreements have been reached. He also mentioned the organization of a number of Belarusian-German economic forums and the regular meeting of the joint Business Council. A Belarusian-German commission of historians has been formed.

In his turn, German Ambassador to Belarus Manfred Huterer confirmed that one of the objectives of the Minsk Forum is to discuss the potential of the Belarusian-German cooperation and the relations of our country with the EU:

We have re-launched a close political dialogue, which, among other things, was conformed by last year's visit to Belarus by Federal President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier. It was the first ever visit of a German President to Belarus. The visit has provided a positive impetus to the bilateral relations across a variety of areas. One of the important results was the setting up of a joint commission of historians that is going to meet for a first session in Berlin in late January 2o2o. I am also happy that we we were able to ensure continued operation of the Leonid Levin Historical Workshop. One of the high points was the meeting between Belarus Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei and his German colleague Heiko Maas in Berlin. That meeting has also provided a number of new initiatives and ideas.

Apart from that, I am happy to point out that our economic cooperation has seen definitive progress over the recent years. The volume of bilateral trade is now again approaching the record-high figure we once used to have. The same goes for the investments. Last year saw the highest volume of German investments into the Belarusian economy. One more important event took place three months ago. It was the 10th meeting of the representatives of German economy in Belarus. It featured a record-high number of German business representatives that arrived in Belarus for the event.