Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus S.Aleinik participates in the high-level week of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly

On September 21, 2023 as part of the work at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, Minister Sergei Aleinik took part in the 8th Ministerial Meeting of the Like-Minded Group for Middle-Income Countries.

Background Information: Like–Minded Group for Middle-Income Countries is an informal association of UN member states established on June 13, 2016 by suggestion of Belarus and Costa Rica. Currently, the Group includes 19 countries. The main goal is to draw attention to the MICs in the UN. Belarus, within the framework of the Group, is promoting the idea of developing a comprehensive UN action plan for cooperation with the MICs.

During his statement, the Foreign Minister stressed that in today's turbulent world there are many other urgent issues, such as geopolitical tensions, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, which inexorably push the topic of middle-income countries to the “backyard”. The Minister noted that the MICs constitute a very diverse group of states and a nuanced approach should be applied to them, that address their specificities. In this regard, Belarus supports the development of a comprehensive long-term UN strategy for the MICs.

During the event, the participants stated that the group of middle-income countries already accounts for more 1/3rd or 35 percent of global GDP, and adopted a ministerial declaration.

Within the framework of the Ministerial Meeting on preparations for the Summit of the Future, Sergei Aleinik stressed the need to pay special attention to the factors hindering the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, primarily unilateral coercive measures. He called for abandoning the policy of applying illegal sanctions and focusing on real steps that can be taken for the sake of the future.

Background Information: In September 2021 UN Secretary - General A.Guterres in his report "Our Common Agenda" put forward an initiative to convene a Summit of the Future in 2024. Its tasks are to create the foundations for more effective global cooperation on the most important issues based on the results of the Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals (September 18-19, 2023), as well as to eliminate gaps in global governance, and to activate the multilateral system.

At the meeting of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Group of Friends, the Minister reiterated that Belarus has been advocating for the recognition of the diversity of ways of progressive development of states as an enduring value of human civilization for two decades. Because it is the freedom to choose one's path of development that is the main prerequisite for a just, sustainable and stable world. Belarus views sanctions affecting the lives of more than a third of humanity as a modern form of neocolonialism, which should have no place in international relations between civilized nations in the XXI century.

Background Information: United Nations Alliance of Civilizations is an international organization founded in 2005 on the political initiative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan with the support of the Governments of Spain and Türkiye in order to establish interethnic, intercultural and interreligious dialogue.

A bilateral meeting was held with the Foreign Minister of Vietnam, Bùi Thanh Sơn. The main topic was the preparation of bilateral events at various levels. In this regard, the entire current bilateral agenda was discussed in detail. Special emphasis was put on cooperation in the field of agriculture, industrial cooperation and the development of a contractual and legal framework.

In the context of discussing steps to further liberalize mutual trips of citizens, the Vietnamese side informed about an increase in the period of stay without a visa in Vietnam for Belarusians up to 45 days. The parties agreed to explore the possibility of further increasing this period to 90 days.

A wide range of practical issues of bilateral cooperation were discussed with the Philippine Foreign Minister, Enrique Manalo.

The topics of ensuring food security, the development of a legal framework for cooperation, mutual support in the UN and other international platforms, including ASEAN and the Non-Aligned Movement, were touched upon.

In order to develop multi-step cooperation between the foreign ministries, the Ministers signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines.

The sides also exchanged invitations to visit each other's capitals with official visits.

A very rich and productive meeting was held with Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. Security issues, the situation in the common European region, and prospects for a Ukrainian settlement were discussed. There is a coincidence of points of view on most current issues on the international agenda, a mutual desire to establish lasting peace in Europe.

The Ministers also discussed the implementation of joint projects, including cooperation, and previously reached bilateral agreements in various fields.

Sergei Aleinik thanked his Hungarian counterpart for his assistance in holding the home matches of the Belarusian national football team in Budapest in qualifying for the UEFA European Championship 2024. The parties agreed to continue working together to develop Belarusian-Hungarian cooperation in the field of sports and tourism.

During the meeting with the Foreign Minister of Türkiye, Hakan Fidan, topical international and regional issues were discussed, including the possible contribution of Belarus and Türkiye to the settlement of the current crisis.

The Foreign Ministers also elaborated on ways to further intensify the Belarusian-Turkish cooperation in the trade and economic sphere. Understanding was reached on the need to intensify the work of a number of mechanisms of bilateral cooperation.

The parties also agreed on the next official contacts.

Ways to renovate bilateral relations and the implementation of agreements previously reached at the level of heads of state were discussed with the Foreign Minister of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry. Special attention was paid to the development of bilateral trade and cooperation.

In the near future, it is planned to resume the work of the Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, and then the first meeting of the high-level bilateral Commission will be held under the chairmanship of the foreign Ministers.

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