Opinions & Interviews

Dapkiunas: Belarus will continue to work actively towards SDGs
In his opinion, the international cooperation aimed at achieving the SDGs has increased substantially after the country set up the national body led by the national coordinator...

Call to accelerate work on CIS free trade in services agreement
Belarus calls to extend the free trade zone to e-commerce. First of all, the matter is about building a barrier-free information and communication infrastructure...

Opinion: Belarus has made great headway in securing women’s rights on labor market
The FTUB head stressed that Belarus makes it into the top 15 countries where female HDI equals or exceeds the male HDI. Besides, the country secures a 30% female representation in the authorities...

Lukashenko: Belarus will spend as much on security as needed
"Belarus is not going to be drawn into an arms race, and engage in saber rattling. However, due to the current military political situation, we cannot afford different proportions of public expenditure financing"...

Belarus unlikely to join WTO by autumn
"Due to the workflow we hope to sign bilateral agreements with the main WTO members by autumn. At the same time we are on a separate track with the USA"...

Belarus described as one of Eastern Partnership’s most developed economies
The official pointed out the possibility of Belarus-Estonia cooperation in the area of digital government. In his words, Estonian advances in this area are focused primarily on protecting citizen data and building up the nation’s trust in digital services...

Kochanova: Belarus has high hopes for the young
Addressing the BRSM Youth Union members, Natalya Kochanova noted that they must show an example of selfless love for the motherland and people, promote the ideas of traditional spiritual and moral values boldly and convincingly, lead a healthy lifestyle, defend the state position...

Belarusian production sector out of recession
"In 2017 the industrial output growth rate totaled 106.1%. In January-April 2018 the figure reached 108.8%. We hope that we will finish this year with the same rate"...

Mikser: Belarus is a very important partner for Estonia
“Economic cooperation is the most important part of bilateral relations. We see a great potential for cooperation in such areas as logistics and transit. Here both parties, both governments will have some work to do”...

Lukashenko sends greetings to Belarusian school-leavers
The head of state emphasized that it is not only important to be an excellent specialist but also to develop as a mature and responsible personality, to take care of people and to add some personal achievements to the history book of native Belarus...

Belarus invites Russia to resume gas price negotiations
"We should enter a new stage of the negotiations now in order to determine the pricing formula for creating a common Eurasian electricity market and a common oil and gas market"...

Belarus’ chances of acquiring consultative status under Antarctic Treaty viewed as high
"On the sidelines of the forum which I attended recently, all the founders of the Antarctic Treaty, namely the heads of 12 delegations, welcomed our positive momentum, progress, the desire to work in Antarctica observing established rules"...

Strengthening of Union State viewed as joint priority of Belarus, Russia
“Our relationships are inclusive. We have reaffirmed this during an hour-long conversation with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and detailed negotiations with Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei”...

Belarus’ work with Shanghai Cooperation Organization guided by practical interests
Vladimir Makei remarked that Belarus will take an active part in the SCO summit, which is due in Qingdao, China in June...

Makei: Belarus regrets Ukraine’s decision to withdraw from CIS
“Of course, it is the sovereign right of Ukraine. Recently, Ukraine has not attended the meetings of the CIS. We regret this”...

Belarus, Russia alarmed by NATO’s activity in Baltic states, Poland
"Our stance just like Belarus’ stance — it was once again confirmed during the meeting with President Alexander Lukashenko today — remains unchanged: such actions to unilaterally build up the military infrastructure, deploy forces and assets near our borders are destructive and undermine trust and mutual understanding"...

Allied relations with Russia described as basic component of Belarus’ foreign policy
“In conditions of today’s serious political and economic challenges Belarus and Russia should coordinate their efforts in the international scene. I would like to emphasize that allied relations with Russia represent a constant, a basic component of our foreign policy”...

Belarus looks forward to even more rapid growth of trade with Russia
In 2017, the bilateral trade totaled $32.4 billion, up 23.5% from 2016. The Belarusian export to Russia exceeded $12.8 billion, up by almost 17% as against 2016...

Lavrov: Russia and Belarus are allies and seek no confrontation
"We would like to advance equal and mutually respectful relations based on principles of mutual benefits and equal indivisible security when no one ensures its own security at the expense of the security of others"...

Belarus-Russia dialogue hailed as steadily developing
Today, the parties are expected to sign an intergovernmental agreement on certain issues related to the rules of entry of foreign nationals and stateless persons attending international sport events...