News & Events in Belarus

MINSK, 22 June (BelTA) – Belarus will do its best to promote the resolution of the common economic and social problems during its presidency of the Central European Initiative (CEI), Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said at a press conference summing up the results of the Meeting of the CEI Ministers for Foreign Affairs in Minsk on 22 June, BelTA has learned.

“Belarus views its CEI presidency as an opportunity to step up the participation of our country in the European integration processes with a focus on the economic aspect. We also aim to make a maximum possible contribution to the resolution of the common economic and social problems faced by the countries of the region,” Vladimir Makei said.

The minister noted that the meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of the CEI member states considered ways to jointly promote full-scale pragmatic cooperation between the integration associations on the continent, and to step up collaboration in addressing new cross-border challenges.

“The CEI has a unique potential to serve as link in this process since its participating countries are members of many different integration associations and organizations,” Vladimir Makei noted.

Economic cooperation aimed at tapping fully into the transit potential of the CEI member states is a matter of particular interest. This is why the results of the CEI ministerial conference on connectivity held in Minsk on 8 June were on the agenda of the 22 June meeting. The CEI foreign ministers paid special attention to strengthening the cooperation in transport bearing in mind such global strategies as the Trans-European Transport Network and the Belt and Road initiative.

“We also discussed ways to improve the use of the existing infrastructure by optimizing the logistics procedures, harmonizing standards, and developing cross-border digital services,” Vladimir Makei added.