Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus V.Makei meets the Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus

29-07-2019

On July 29, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, received the Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus, Andrea Wiktorin, on the occasion of the completion of her diplomatic mission.

Belarus’ Foreign Minister stressed the significant personal contribution of Ambassador A.Wiktorin to the step-by-step normalization of Belarus-EU relations.

During her stay in office, the political dialogue between Belarus and the EU executive structures has intensified, the meetings of Belarus-EU Coordination Group and sectorial dialogues have become regular, the investment cooperation has expanded, and the volume of EU technical assistance for Belarus has increased. The parties have closely approached the signing of visa facilitation and readmission agreements.

In 2015–2018, the bilateral trade between Belarus and the European Union increased from 14.4 to 17.3 billion US dollars, with Belarus’s exports growing from 8.6 to 10.2 billion US dollars.

During the meeting, the future tasks on Belarus-EU agenda were also discussed. In particular, Minister V.Makei stressed the importance of the complete lifting by the European Union of the remaining sanctions against Belarus, the soonest completion of the process of agreeing on the Partnership Priorities and launching the negotiations on a new framework agreement between Belarus and the European Union.

On its’ part, Belarus is ready to further working jointly with the EU to expand political dialogue and mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation, develop a full-fledged bilateral legal framework, as well as to enrich the agenda of the Eastern Partnership initiative with concrete and useful content for the citizens on both sides of the border.

In conclusion, V.Makei wished A.Wiktorin further success in her diplomatic career and expressed the hope that her successor as the Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus would be as active and focused on results in developing Belarus-EU cooperation.

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