Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus V.Makei visits the Federal Republic of Germany

21 October 2019

21-10-2019

On October 21-22, 2019 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, pays a working visit to the Federal Republic of Germany.'

On October 21, the Head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry met with his colleague, the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, Heiko Maas.

During the meeting, the Foreign Ministers discussed in detail a wide range of issues of the Belarusian-German relations, including the development of political dialogue, as well as trade, economic and investment cooperation. The sides agreed to work on the launch of a special consultative format for developing a strategic vision and a “road map” for a perspective bilateral cooperation in various fields. Special attention was paid to the issues regarding the historical dialogue and reconciliation in the context of the implementation of the relevant agreements of the Presidents of Belarus and Germany. In this regard, the parties noted with satisfaction the successful formation of a joint commission of historians, which should get to its work in early 2020.

Besides that, V.Makei and H.Maas exchanged views on the relations between the Republic of Belarus and the European Union, the regional situation, including the process of peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, as well as the interaction within international organizations. In this regard, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus expressed hope for Germany’s active support for expanding the cooperation between the Republic of Belarus and the European Union, incliding the development and conclusion of the basic agreement, and assured that the Belarusian side is ready to render all possible assistance to the negotiations on the Ukraine in the Normandy format and through the Trilateral Contact Group under the auspices of the OSC E.V. Makei also backed up the initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany on the formation of the “Alliance for Multilateralism” in support of multilateral diplomacy.

In the German Bundestag, V.Makei met with the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Norbert Röttgen. The sides focused on the issues of international and regional security, the transatlantic relations and the European cooperation, common challenges for Belarus and Germany, as well as options for possible joint actions.

In the German Parliamentary Society, the Head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry also met with the members of the Bundestag German-Belarusian Parliamentary Group, which includes representatives of all the party factions. An open and interested exchange of views took place regarding the state of the Belarusian-German and Belarusian-European relations. All the participants emphasized the important role of the parliamentary dimension of the bilateral dialogue and cooperation in their development.

In the framework of the meeting with the Executive Director of the Eastern Committee, the Association of German Economics for Cooperation with Eastern European Countries, Ute Kochlowski-Kajaia, and representatives of the German business community, the sides discussed in detail the issues of the bilateral trade, economic and investment cooperation, and ways to enhance the interaction between Belarusian and German business circles. V.Makei, in particular, stressed the need for joint efforts to further increase trade between the two countries, and highlighted the comparative advantages of Belarus and opportunities for German investors, in particular in the Great Stone Industrial Park and the High-Tech Park.