Munich Security Conference

The Munich Security Conference Core Group Meeting will be held in Belarus on October 30-November 1, 2018.

Minsk was chosen as the venue for the MSC Core Group Meeting based on Belarus’ contribution to the promotion of stability and security, as well as possibility to bring together main regional actors. Amongst others, the meeting will be dedicated to the discussion of the Minsk Process, East-West relations, regional conflicts, and the economic order in Eastern Europe.  

Besides its annual flagship conference in Munich, the Munich Security Conference (MSC) Foundation regularly organizes high-profile events around the world. In order to cover region-specific topics, the MSC links up with national governments and prominent local partners to host so-called Core Group Meetings in capitals around the world.

Limited to an exclusive group of no more than 60 participants, the MSC Core Group Meeting provides an intensive setting for senior decision-makers from around the globe — including heads of governments and international organizations, ministers, leading parliamentarians, heads of NGOs and journalists as well as FTSE-100 and DAX CEOs — to discuss regional security issues and foster personal relationships.

Meetings have already taken place in Washington, D.C. (three times), Moscow, Beijing (twice), Doha, New Delhi, Vienna, Tehran, and Addis Ababa.

About the MSC

The Munich Security Conference (MSC) is the world's leading platform for debates on international security policy. With over 500 official participants and 300 observers assembled at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof, the annual conference provides a unique atmosphere for frank, private and mostly off-the-record exchange on present and future security challenges and solutions. In addition to its annual conference, the MSC Foundation hosts a number of smaller, albeit equally high-profile, events around the world. This includes Core Group Meetings, which have a regional focus, as well as thematic tracks, such as the Cyber Security and Technology Series, the Human Security Series, the Economic and Resource Security, and the Defence and Security Policy Series, with Summits and Roundtables in different cities around the world.

Since 2006, the Republic of Belarus has been participating in the MSC. Our country uses the platform of the Munich Conference to present the position of Belarus on key aspects of the international and regional security architecture, as well as to hold bilateral meetings with officials of Germany and other countries.

On October 31-November 1, 2018 Minsk hosted the Munich Security Conference Core Group Meeting, which is a major high-profile event for global and regional security issues. 

The meeting was organized by the MSC Secretariat together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus.

This year the event was attended by more than 200 participants and guests, including high-ranking officials from different countries and international organizations, large companies, influential analytical institutions, heads of intelligence services.

President of Armenia A.Sarkissian, Prime-Minister of Moldova P.Filip and Prime-Minister of Serbia A.Brnabić, First Deputy Prime-Minister of Azerbaijan Y.Eyyubov, Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan K.-J.Tokayev, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mongolia D.Tsogtbaatar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland J.Czaputowicz, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia M.Lajčák, Secretary General of the OSCE T.Greminger, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization L.Zerbo, European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations J.Hahn and others participated in the meeting. 

The event was attended by a number of heads of the executive authorities of the Republic Belarus, including State Secretary of Security Council S.Zas, Minister of Defence A.Ravkov, Chairman of the State Security Committee V.Vakulchik, Minister of Foreign Affairs V.Makei, members of the Parliament, political analysts. 

On October 31, 2018 the solemn opening ceremony of the Core Group Meeting and the central discussion session on East-West Relations was held by President of the Republic of Belarus A.Lukashenko. The discussion centered around a current state of the dialogue, its’ institutional formats, regional security issues, mechanisms of trust and stability building.

A separate session was devoted to the Minsk Process and the crisis in the East of Ukraine. Participants of the discussion exchanged their views on possible political initiatives and prospects of the conflict settlement. 

On October 31, 2018 special roundtables were also held on energy security and transnational security, as well as an intelligence roundtable. 

In the evening of October 31, 2018 a solemn reception devoted to the Core Group Meeting was given on behalf of the President of the Republic of Belarus at the Minsk Memorial Temple in the name of All Saints, attended by Prime Minister of Belarus S.Rumas.

On November 1, 2018 the meeting continued with the session on arms control, devoted to the existing difficulties, as well as possible answers to modern challenges in this sphere.

The participants of the final session of the MSC Core Group Meeting named “Regional Conflicts” considered efficiency of the existing formats of conflict settlement.

The key message of the Minsk Meeting was a necessity of building confidence and defusing tensions among the countries, search for sustainable and mutually accepted decisions to provide security in our region as well as in a wider international context.