Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 31 March (BelTA) - Belarus has always been sincerely interested in building good relations with the European Union, Nikolai Samoseiko, the chairman of the permanent commission for international affairs of the House of Representatives, said as he met with a group of political experts from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) on 31 March, BelTA has learned.

“The positive sides that you are discovering about Belarus have always been here. Maybe they were not always visible, but Belarus has always been keenly interested in normal mutually beneficial relations with the European Union,” the Belarusian MP said.

Belarus hopes that during this visit to Belarus the experts will form a truly objective view about the country, Nikolai Samoseiko noted. "I think it is not a secret that the increased interest in Belarus on the part of our Western partners is primarily due to the events in Ukraine and Belarus’ position on this conflict,” he noted.

According to the MP, Belarus’ position on establishing normal relations with the European Union is due not only to the geopolitical and historical closeness to Europe and economic relations but also due to the need to seek joint efforts to respond to the emerging challenges. Nikolai Samoseiko believes that in this context there are many issues that need to be discussed, including the Eastern Partnership, the EEU and the sanctions, the situation in Ukraine, and the economic issues.

On behalf of Europe the meeting with the Belarusian MPs is attended by representatives of the United Kingdom, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Sweden, Norway and Slovakia, including Political Director at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic Lubomir Rehak and Swedish diplomat, who previously held the posts of Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Carl Bildt.