Foreign Minister of Belarus V.Makei participates in the Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States

On October 14, 2021 Minsk hosted the Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States under the Chair of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Makei.

The Foreign Ministers exchanged views on burning international issues and deepening cooperation within the Commonwealth of Independent States. The participants discussed the current situation within the Commonwealth region and near its’ external borders with a special emphasis on the situation in Central Asia.

In his statement, V.Makei stressed the need to strengthen multilateral interaction of the CIS Member States. In the light of latest trends and tendencies in the development of the system of international relations, the Belarusian Foreign Minister emphasized the importance of regional and interregional cooperation based on universally recognized norms of international law, primarily the goals and principles of the UN Charter. In this context, the Minister drew particular attention to the value of the CIS as a platform for joining efforts and developing an urgent and competitive agenda for combating challenges and threats common to the Commonwealth countries.

“Belarusian chairmanship placed a special emphasis on economic issues in order to intensify interaction in the industrial and agro-industrial spheres, ensure food security of the Commonwealth countries and further comprehensive expansion of regional integration processes, deepen economic and social ties,”, noted V.Makei. The Minister emphasized that in the future, the member countries of the Commonwealth need to intensify work to reduce barriers and restrictions, ensure a full-scale free trade in goods, expand industrial cooperation, facilitate administrative procedures for trade and business, pursue a coordinated policy in the field of technical regulation and standardization, use sanitary, veterinary and phytosanitary measures, deepening cooperation in the field of investment, innovation, transport and other areas.

The participants of the Meeting highly praised the efforts of the Belarusian side to implement the CIS Chairmanship Plan. It was emphasized that, despite the wellknown difficulties, all meetings of the Commonwealth bodies planned for 2021 are being successfully held.

The Belarusian Foreign Minister thanked his colleagues for the assistance provided to Belarus during its’ chairmanship in the Ogranization, as well as for their personal involvement in the commemoration information campaign "The CIS Remembers", dedicated to the 80th Anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

Following the meeting, a number of documents were signed aimed at deepening cooperation in the CIS region in the foreign policy, cultural and humanitarian spheres. The Foreign Ministers adopted a joint statement on strengthening the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological and Toxin Weapons, approved draft joint statements by the Heads of States concerning the 30th Anniversary of the CIS, cooperation in the field of biological security, and the development of cooperation in the field of migration. The Foreign Ministers approved the Plan of Multi-level Interministerial Consultations for 2022, approved Methodological Recommendations for the Development of Draft International Treaties concluded within the CIS.

The next meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers will be held on April 8, 2022 in Dushanbe.

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