Opinions & Interviews

Belarus in favor of open dialogue to ease tensions in Europe
An open transparent inclusive dialogue plays a key role in reducing tensions and preventing armed conflicts in Europe, Alena Kupchyna said. She reaffirmed Belarus’ commitment to active participation in the fight against transnational challenges and threats...

Opinion: Forum for national SDG coordinators will be used to exchange advanced experience
Marianna Shchetkina noted that traditionally the countries are represented at the UN forums in Geneva or New York at a high level. Diplomats and politicians make serious preparations for such events where they lay out the official positions of their states...

Belarus’ achievements in gender equality, social support noted
A UN expert mission to assess the progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, that Belarus hosted in late November-early December 2017, took note of the country's achievements in gender equality, maternity and childhood, social support, Marianna Shchetkina, Deputy Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, National Coordinator for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, said as she met with representatives of the foreign diplomatic corps...

MFA: Belarus satisfied with level of cooperation with China
Vladimir Makei stressed that for Belarus China is a very important and strategic partner. Over the 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the parties have reached a very high level of cooperation, and this has been enshrined in the relevant agreements...

Makei: Belarus’ Helsinki 2 initiative aimed at eliminating confrontation in the region
“When the president said that we need to think about starting or perhaps reviving the negotiations within the framework of the Helsinki accords, starting the process that could be conventionally called Helsinki 2, he meant that we need to move away from that confrontation, from the confrontational dividing rhetoric in our region”...

Makei: Russia is Belarus’ strategic partner of paramount importance
The second most important trade and economic partner for Belarus is the European Union, Vladimir Makei said. "The EU gives us advanced technologies and investments. We cannot turn our back on the cooperation with the European Union. The development of our relations with Russia, the European Union and the rest of the world does not mean that we want to be friends with someone at the expense of or against someone else"...

Record-low inflation in Belarus seen as result of sound monetary policy
"The money printing press was stopped long ago, the money supply growth taken under control and directed lending on a slowdown"...

Strong hope for Belarus-Russia agreement on mutual recognition of visas in 2018
According to the source, during the government conference the head of state stressed that Belarus’ visa policy should not pose problems for other nations, primarily neighbors...

Lukashenko urges to step up efforts to reconcile border-related differences with Russia
“It is not normal when a border is restored between the two brotherly states and nations. It took us more than 20 years to remove it. I don’t know who needs it”...

World Bank expects Belarusian economy to keep growing for next three years
According to the source, the Belarusian economy will grow by 2.1% in 2018. The same figure was mentioned by the World Bank’s Economic Update on Belarus in December 2017. In 2019 and 2020 Belarus’ GDP growth is expected to reach 2.4%...

Yermoshina: Local elections are becoming more active, less elitist
"Earlier, we had only a narrow group of people, mainly related to politics. Today, we can see people engaged in business who are eager to take part in the elections”...

Governor: January Music Nights is a landmark event for Brest Oblast and Belarus
“You can judge about the level of the festival by the playbill alone. It features famous artists, world stars. This says a lot. Clearly the festival is a landmark event for Brest Oblast and for the country as a whole. There are not many festivals in our country with such good traditions. Most importantly is that the festival does not lower the bar. On the contrary it raises it higher. Every year the number of participants increases”...

Charity campaign participants thanked by Belarus president
“Literally everyone, from businessmen to public servants and military personnel, have been visiting children’s institutions during the period from the Catholic Christmas till the Old New Year. This is amazing. This is the way it should be"...

Mogilev to host 13th theater forum M.@rt.kontakt on 21-27 March 2018
“Classical works made up 50% of the program last year. In 2018, only 3 out of 23 shows will be based on classics. The rest will be about avant-guarde theater and sometimes music and plastic arts"...

PM: Belarus needs to work towards joining the group of high-income countries
“We need to understand that there are countries which we surpass in progress and there are many states which go ahead of us in material production, innovativeness and knowledge-intensive economic development. Here we have something to aim at,” Andrei Kobyakov said...

Belarus-Czechia interregional partnership grows stronger
"The bilateral cooperation in trade, economy, investment, science has been steadily progressing. So have cultural and humanitarian ties. Contacts between business circles have been developing successfully"...

Belarus to study foreign practices in returning cultural property
“Many states involved in World War II have developed their own approaches to the repatriation. We can draw on the experience of our Polish colleagues. It is already clear, however, that we should be guided by Russia’s laws”...

Lukashenko: Church’s contribution to peace in Belarus is huge
Alexander Lukashenko stressed that the main values are peace and calmness. Money can always be found and earned. “Our Lord sees everything. If we do not cherish peace, He will punish. Let us cherish this peace,” the Belarusian leader said...

Motulsky: Much work ahead to revive more literary names and artefacts in Belarus
Director of Belarus’ National Library Roman Motulsky noted that the high award means the recognition of the efforts of not only today’s team but all the people who worked at the National Library for over 95 years of its existence...

Makei: Belarus has developed Helsinki 2 concept and is working on its implementation
"We have held consultations with representatives of a number of countries, and I must say that our explanations and proposals find a positive response among many of our counterparts and partners"...