Events

MINSK, 27 June (BelTA) – Alexander Chesnovsky, Head of the International Security and Arms Control Department at the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called on the OSCE member states to prevent a new spiral in the arms race in the European region as he spoke at the OSCE Annual Security Review Conference in Vienna, BelTA learned from the Belarusian Embassy in Austria.

“Alexander Chesnovsky stressed the need to prevent a new spiral in the arms race in the European region and to increase mutual trust in military affairs. The diplomat emphasized that it is necessary to overcome the economic fragmentation in the OSCE region and build a just and reliable trade and economic architecture in the Euro-Atlantic space that would take into account the interests of all the member states,” the embassy representatives said.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Austria, Belarus’ Permanent Representative to the OSCE Alena Kupchyna moderated the special session “Ensuring security and stability in the OSCE region in light of developments with respect to Ukraine.” The keynote speakers were Oleksii Makeiev, Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andreas Prothmann, Head of the Task Force Ukraine at the German Federal Foreign Office, and Raphael Martin de Lagarde, Head of the Department for Russia and Eastern Europe at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France.

The parties exchanged views on the ways and methods to settle the conflict in Ukraine, and considered its impact on the European security in general. Summing up the results of the session, Alena Kupchyna noted that even though the difference of opinions persists, the member states confirmed their commitment to promoting a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine in accordance with the Minsk agreements, emphasized the unique nature of the Minsk negotiation process, and expressed support for the activities of the trilateral contact group and the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.

The theme of the 2017 OSCE Annual Security Review Conference is “Strengthening security through dialogue”.