Events

The Belarusian foreign minister greeted everyone and thanked them for the participation in the CIS Foreign Ministers Council meeting. “Today we are holding the first meeting of the Council in 2018 and, thus, we can say that we are opening the CIS political season. In this regard, I would like to once again thank our Russian counterparts for the effective work they did during their presidency in the CIS last year, and wish every success and fruitful activity to our Tajik colleagues who take over this year,” Vladimir Makei said.

The minister stressed that today’s meeting "has a rich and diverse agenda, including the issues of cooperation in the areas of security, crime prevention and countering international terrorism.” “Given the difficult geopolitical situation and the risks of destabilizing the existing conditions for international cooperation, there is an opportunity to discuss in a trust-based format all the key international problems which affect the interests of our region and outline ways of interaction on the most pressing of them,” the foreign minister said.

He also stressed that the CIS Foreign Ministers Council is a preparatory stage for the forthcoming meeting of the CIS Heads of State Council. Therefore, according to him, it is necessary to compile the most substantive agenda for the meeting of the presidents in Dushanbe, which will meet the requirement of the heads of state to increase the effectiveness of the work of the highest bodies in the CIS.