Events

“At the invitation of the Federal Chancellor of Austria Werner Faymann, Vladimir Makei took part in the summit of the Heads of Government of the Central European Initiative, where the sides discussed cooperation within the CEI, as well as interaction of the Initiative with other regional and international organizations,” the press service said. The Declaration on the 25th anniversary of the CEI was adopted after the meeting.

In his speech the Belarusian Foreign Minister stressed the importance of continuing and further enhancing the regional cooperation in order to prevent the emergence of new dividing lines in Europe, called for expansion of CEI ties with other regional organizations, including the CIS and the Eurasian Economic Union.

During the visit to Vienna Vladimir Makei, together with UN Deputy Secretary General, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Yuri Fedorov, attended the presentation ceremony of the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons. The report is published by the Office on a regular basis in accordance with the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, which was adopted on the initiative of Belarus in 2010.

Apart from that, the Minister held bilateral talks with Federal Minister for European Integration and Foreign Affairs of Austria Sebastian Kurz. The parties discussed the current state and prospects of development of Belarus-Austria relations in the political, economic and other fields, Belarus — EU interaction, the issues on the regional and international agenda. Vladimir Makei and Sebastian Kurz signed a protocol to the intergovernmental Belarusian-Austrian agreement on avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and property.

Vladimir Makei also met with President of Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Christoph Leitl. During the meeting the parties discussed a wide range of issues of Belarusian-Austrian trade-economic and investment cooperation.