Events

“Our bilateral economic relations are increasingly vibrant. Belarus and Austria have rather good bilateral trade in spite of the complicated economic situation in the world. We should step up efforts to bolster our bilateral trade. We believe that your visit is an important step in the bilateral interaction,“ the Belarusian minister of foreign affairs stressed.

Since Austria is a member of the European Union, it is clear that it has the same stance on Belarus as the EU does, Vladimir Makei said. “We believe that Austria has always demonstrated a constructive position towards Belarus as part of the European Union agenda. We appreciate it,” the Belarusian minister of foreign affairs said.

Vladimir Makei mentioned the fact that the visit of the Austrian delegation to Belarus takes place in the run-up to Victory Day. “It is important. We should learn the lessons of history. The main lesson is that conflicts must be resolved by the power of words rather than by the power of weapons,” he said.

The Belarusian minister of foreign affairs expressed readiness to discuss the Belarusian-Austrian cooperation at the bilateral level and in the multilateral format.

Addressing Vladimir Makei, Sebastian Kurz noted: “We know that you are a friend of Austria. I will be pleased to continue our dialogue which began in November 2014. We need to discuss our efforts to enhance bilateral cooperation.”

The meeting also focused on the situation around Ukraine.