Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus V.Makei takes part in the opening session of the High Level International Conference “Preventing and Countering Terrorism in the Digital Age”

10-10-2018

On October 9, 2018 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, made a statement at the opening session of the Minsk High Level International Conference “Preventing and Countering Terrorism in the Digital Age” that was organized by the Republic of Belarus together with the OSCE.

The event hosted numerous distinguished delegates, including the OSCE Secretary General, Thomas Greminger, the UN Under-Secretary-General, Head of the UN Counter-Terrorism Office, Vladimir Voronkov, UN Under-Secretary-General, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Director-General of the UN Office in Vienna, Yuri Fedotov,  the Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee and CIS Executive Secretary, Sergey Lebedev, the Deputy Secretary General of the CSTO, Valery Semerikov, the Deputy Director of the SCO Regional Antiterrorist Structure, Jie Liu.

Among the 250 participants from 46 countries are delegates of the European Parliament, representatives of the European Union and the Council of Europe, UN Counter-Terrorism Committee, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, INTERPOL, top level experts from government structures of the OSCE participating States and partners for cooperation, as well as their colleagues from Belarus. 

V.Makei in his statement dwelt on the dangers of the terrorism threat in the age of modern technologies, underlined necessity of close coordination in fighting terrorism at the global, regional and national levels, urged to create a unified antiterrorist front and join the ensuing efforts of the United Nations, OSCE, CSTO, CIS and other relevant organizations.

Although the overall situation in Belarus remains stable and under control, the Minister pointed out, due to its geographical position our country faces a whole range of external challenges and threats shared by all European region. 

The Head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry noted that being in the center of Europe Belarus serves as a reliable barrier in identifying and forestalling foreign terrorist fighters in passenger and migration flows to our neighbors and partners. V.Makei has also stated that national anti-terrorist legislation and practices are being constantly improved and updated. 

Minister assured that Belarus is open for further partnerships with other states, law enforcement agencies and special services, as well as with the international organizations, involved in the fighting terrorism. 

In this vein the participants were reminded of the initiative of the President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, to renew a comprehensive international security dialogue in order to resolve the deep crisis of trust in international relations and provide mechanisms aimed at strengthening peace and international security, as well as ensuring sustainable development. Among the elements of such dialogue the Head of Belarusian State singled out the fight against international terrorism and strengthening of the cyber security. 

Minister Makei highlighted that working out common approaches in countering terrorism must include a non-politicized expert dialogue and  expressed hope that the present conference would consolidate anti-terrorist effort in the digital sphere and would serve to outline further practical steps in this direction. 

The State Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus, Stanislav Zas, read out the welcoming address of the President of the Republic of Belarus and also made a statement at the opening session. 

The Conference “Preventing and Countering Terrorism in the Digital Age” will continue its’ work on October 10, 2018.

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