Deputy Head of the Department of Information — Head of the Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Maria Vanshina answers the question of the Web Portal TUT.BY

08-07-2016

Web Portal TUT.BY: How can you comment on the statement that Poland would like to act as a mediator in the rapprochement between Belarus and NATO?

Answer: If you are referring to the statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Witold Waszczykowski, made at the press conference in Warsaw on July 8, as far as I know, the Head of the Foreign Ministry of Poland expressed interest of the Polish side to act as a partner and mediator to establish closer cooperation between Belarus and NATO.

First of all, Belarus has always been an advocate of direct and unmediated dialogue with all partners, including NATO, on the basis of its’ national interests and mutual respect.

Let me remind you that the key principle of the Belarusian foreign policy is to maintain and further strengthen friendly and good-neighborly relations with all its’ neighboring countries.

We are open to further development of cooperation with Poland, which, among other things, traditionally is one of Belarus’ top ten trade partners and investors.

What concerns cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, there is no alternative to an open and honest dialogue between all stakeholders on the continent in the interest of peace and stability. We stand for constructive cooperation between NATO and Belarus, NATO and Russia, among all the integration (economic, political and military) units to jointly respond to the many challenges to regional security. At the same time, let us stress it again, Belarus unambiguously opposes fueling of military tensions in our region and is against new dividing lines in Europe.

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