Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus V.Makei visits Geneva

08-04-2019

On April 7-9, 2019 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, pays a visit to Geneva to participate in the 68th Session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Belarus-Switzerland business forum, high-level discussion on global security.

On April 8, V.Makei addressed the United Nations in Geneva high-level discussion on global security.

The Foreign Minister of Belarus defined the international community’s inability to forge new rules for peaceful cooperation as a systemic flaw in global relations at this particular stage. The old system characterized by the concentrated power and the influence exerted by a handful of great powers has been increasingly degrading, while the irreversible political and economic ascendance of regional powers and their alliances serve to shape a new system.

V.Makei urged the international community to launch without delay comprehensive multilateral negotiations with the view to overcoming multiple prevailing differences and building a new, more efficient, fair and operable world order, while noting that Minsk stands ready to be a convening place.

Furthermore, Foreign Minister called for strengthening the role of multilateral institutions and the UN system as a whole. Belarus believes that Geneva-based multilateral thematic organizations have already been making a decisive contribution to shaping a more harmonized and interdependent future world, which will have no place for using force for conflict resolution. It is thematic intergovernmental organizations focused on the implementation of the SDGs that must provide the basis for global thematic partnerships, which bring together states, international organizations, civil society, the private sector, as well as the academia and research community. Likewise, Belarus supports the viewpoint that it is these global partnerships that constitute the best tool for managing the emerging multipolar world order.

The discussion organized by the Permanent Mission of Belarus to the UN in Geneva featured as panelists the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Michael Møller, the Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), Renata Dwan, and the Head of the EU Delegation to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Walter Stevens.

On the same day, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus met with the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV AIDS, Michel Sidibe.

V.Makei extended high appreciation to UNAIDS for its’ important contribution to combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Belarus, including through cooperation with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which has been continuously involved in the co-financing of relevant state programs. Foreign Minister expressed hope for further constructive cooperation aimed at enhancing the country’s capacities in order to confront the challenge in a more effective way in years to come.

Recalling his visit to Minsk in 2017, the Executive Director has praised Belarus’ achievements in public health, while noting that Belarus’ health care is of high quality and universally available to the population, which puts it in a position to successfully rival advanced countries in terms of relevant health-care indicators.

Moreover, M.Sidibe has stressed that Belarus is a regional leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS. With this in mind, he has expressed an interest that the Foreign Ministry of Belarus maintains its high focus on the development of international cooperation in the fight against AIDS, including on the use and dissemination of best practices and expertise that facilitate greater availability of medicines and contribute to reduced virus transmission.

V.Makei and M.Sidibé agreed to continue to engage in a proactive mode with the overriding objective of strengthening Belarus’ health care capacities in erecting an effective barrier against HIV/AIDS, in providing required services for all HIV-infected people and AIDS patients and, not least, in combating stigma and discrimination.

Speaking at the Belarusian-Swiss business forum in Genthod, V.Makei urged Swiss and French business to invest in Belarus.

It was noted that Switzerland is an important trade and economic partner for Belarus in Europe. The Swiss company Stadler-Minsk, producing rolling stock, is one of the best examples of successful western investments in Belarusian economy. Its success serves as a confirmation of stability and reliability of economic conditions created by Belarus for foreign companies.

The Minister stressed that in terms of working with investors Belarus has no geographical or political preferences. Our country is interested in creation of a single Eurasian economic space with free movement of goods, services, people and capital from Lisbon to Vladivostok, or even more.

V.Makei also called on the representatives of European companies to carry forward the implementation of the “integration of integrations” initiative proposed by the President of Belarus by supporting direct and pragmatic contacts between supranational bodies of the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union.

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