Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus V.Makei participates in the 77th session of the UN General Assembly (first day)

On September 21, 2022 during the visit to New York to take part in the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, took part in the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the CSTO Member States.

The Foreign Minister informed about the priorities of the Belarusian delegation at the 77th session of the UNGA, including the promotion of the principles of justice, equality and multilateralism, respect for the sovereignty of states, inadmissibility of unilateral coercive measures and sanctions in violation of the UN Charter.

Belarus will also oppose discriminatory practices in the UN on the basis of state, which is manifested in the so-called "culture of cancellation", the arbitrary exclusion of states from international bodies.

V.Makei drew special attention to the initiative of the President Aleksandr Lukashenko to launch a global dialogue involving all major international actors in the spirit of San Francisco, which should result in clear and transparent agreements on the rules of the new world order.

As part of participation in the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), V.Makei drew attention to the proposals of the Belarusian side concerning the role of the UN in the current geopolitical realities. These proposals were sent to the UN member states prior of the 77th session of the General Assembly. 

The Foreign Minister spoke in favor of the need to build the capacity of developing countries to respond to the challenges of our time. Today, when the confrontation between the major geopolitical players has reached threatening proportions, it is the developing countries, united, should take the leading role in resolving the crisis in international relations. But this can only be possible under conditions of unity and solidarity. Otherwise, any, especially small, country of the developing world may become another victim of selfish interests of the West. 

V.Makei outlined the real reasons for imposing illegal economic sanctions against the Republic of Belarus, in particular the closure of Belarusian airspace and ban on flights of Belarusian air carriers. Foreign Minister provided detailed information about the position of the Republic of Belarus on the Ukrainian conflict, emphasizing that Belarus is not a party to the conflict and has always provided a platform for peaceful dialogue.

The Foreign Minister suggested adopting a declaration within the framework of the NAM aimed at implementing the idea of launching a global dialogue in the spirit of San Francisco.

Taking part in a high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, the Minister drew attention to the topic of the genocide of the Belarusian people during World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust, as a result of which the Belarusians have fixed in their public and national consciousness the denial of any inter-ethnic, intercultural and inter-confessional conflict.

The Minister noted with regret that issues of nationality, religion and language often become a tool and a coverup for illegal activities and stressed that over the past few years Belarus has repeatedly recorded and suppressed attempts by external forces to influence the political life of the country using linguistic and national factors.

V.Makei noted that some neighbors of Belarus have learned to manipulate fake information on the situation with national minorities in the country and to spread outright lies. On the contrary, responsible neighborhood is a guarantee that the factor of national minorities will not be dividing, but rather enriching the development of all parties. The Minister stated that our country is ready to host representatives of different peoples who are ready to participate in the construction and development of an independent and prosperous Belarus.

The Minister also held a number of bilateral meetings with the Foreign Ministers. 

During the working conversation with the Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergei Lavrov, ministers exchanged assessments on the current state of affairs in the world and the region. Parties specified schedule of upcoming bilateral contacts at the highest and high levels, as well as discussed current relations with the European Union and the United States.

The head of the Foreign Ministry of Tajikistan, Sirojiddin Muhriddin, informed his Belarusian counterpart about the development of the situation in the context of the recent aggravation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border. The parties discussed the details of preparations for the forthcoming official visit of the President of Belarus A.Lukashenko to Tajikistan in the near future. The ministers considered procedural issues related to the further actions on the soonest registration of Belarus’ full-fledged membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). 

During the meeting with the Foreign Minister of Syria, Faisal Mekdad, the sides exchanged views on the current situation in Eastern Europe and in the Middle East, discussed plans for the development of Belarusian-Syrian cooperation in various fields for the near future, as well as a schedule of planned high-level contacts. 

The Ministers reaffirmed their interest in building up trade and economic cooperation between the countries and agreed to continue mutual support on international platforms, including joint opposition to unilateral coercive measures.

During the meeting between Vladimir Makei and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Mukhtar Tleuberdi, the parties expressed satisfaction with the level of results achieved over the three decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. 

The Belarusian side stressed the importance of further strengthening equal cooperation on multilateral platforms, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

The issues of strengthening integrational cooperation within the framework of the EAEU, the CIS and the CSTO, as well as mutual support in the UN, were considered in detail. Vladimir Makei and Mukhtar Tleuberdi exchanged views on the role and place of the OSCE in the modern security architecture. 

Special attention was paid to preparations for high-level events under the auspices of the CICA and the CIS, which will be held in October this year in the capital of Kazakhstan.

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