Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus O.Kravchenko participates in the OSCE Conference in Bratislava

06-02-2019

On February 5-6, 2019 in Bratislava the Belarusian delegation headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oleg Kravchenko, participated in the OSCE Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism in the OSCE region organized by the Slovak Chairmanship-in-Office.

In his statement at the opening session of the conference, O.Kravchenko highlighted diversified efforts undertaken in Belarus in preserving historical memory of the Holocaust tragedy, including the opening in 2018 of the second stage of the Trostenets memorial complex.

The Deputy Minister emphasized the importance of studying the lessons of history of the Second World War and enlightenment, especially of the youth, in order to avoid a repetition of such tragic events in the future.

O.Kravchenko confirmed Belarus’s readiness to further contribute to the OSCE’s collective efforts to combat anti-Semitism.

The event was also attended by the OSCE Chair-in-Office, Slovak Foreign Minister, Miroslav Lajcak, and the Austrian Foreign Minister, Karin Kneissl, the OSCE Secretary General, Thomas Greminger, representatives of governmental bodies of the OSCE participating States, non-governmental organizations, national and religious communities.

During his visit to Slovakia, O.Kravchenko met with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia, Lukas Parizek. The parties discussed a wide range of issues on the bilateral agenda, Belarusian-Slovak cooperation within the OSCE, as well as the interaction of Belarus with the European Union.

On the margins of the conference, O.Kravchenko held meetings with Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism, Andrew Baker, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, Artemis Dralo, whose country will chair the OSCE after Slovakia, as well as with the heads of delegations of several OSCE participating States.

During the meeting with the Director of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association, Alexander Duleba, the situation in the field of regional security and prospects for interaction between the analytical centers of Belarus and Slovakia were discussed.

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