MINSK, 7 September (BelTA) - Signing a basic agreement is a strategic objective of Belarus in the relations with the EU, Belarus’ Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Oleg Kravchenko said at the conference on the future of the Eastern Partnership amid growing regional turbulence in Minsk on 7 September, BelTA has learned.
At this stage, the parties have not yet come to even discuss the readiness to talk about this document. “I believe that if we are able to approach, in the foreseeable future, the conclusion of this agreement, this will be one of the major achievements,” the deputy minister said. “It is a strategic objective of Belarus in the relations with the EU,” he added.
Oleg Kravchenko would not specify the wishes of the Belarusian side regarding this document. They should be realistic, mutually beneficial, he said.
The deputy minister raised the issue during the conference on the future of the Eastern Partnership initiatives in the context of the development of relations with the EU as a whole. The initiative, according to the Belarusian side, must actively develop economic contacts, business dimension.