Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus M.Ryzhenkov meets the finalists of the contest ‘I Want to be a Diplomat’.

On April 30, 2025  the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Maxim Ryzhenkov, met with the finalists of the essay contest “I Want to Be a Diplomat” held in the format of a panel discussion.

Over 220 essays from 20 universities of the country were submitted to the jury. Among them 17 became winners, including special prizes of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the co-organiser of the contest - the retail chain “5 Element”, whereas 16 became laureates.

The finalists of the contest were welcomed and awarded by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maksim Ryzhenkov, Director of the National Centre of Marketing, Mikalai Barysevich, Chair of the General Meeting of Shareholders of the retail chain ‘5 Element’ Andrei Balabin.

The winners and laureates were awarded valuable gifts, but the main prize was the opportunity to complete an internship at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or take part in the annual workshop for young diplomats.

Among winners are students of the first, second, third and fourth year of studying of international relations, military, historical and law faculties of the Belarusian State University, Belarusian State Economic University, Minsk State Linguistic University, Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Belarus, Belarusian State Aviation Academy, Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts, Brest State A. Pushkin University, Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov, Francisk Skorina Gomel State University, Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno, Euphrosyne of Polotskaya State University of Polotsk, Belarusian State Agricultural Academy, International University "MITSO", BIP - University of Law and Social-Information technologies.  

The event was also attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, member of the Association of Veterans of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alexander Averyanov.

In his speech, the Minister emphasised that diplomacy is not just a profession, but a lifestyle, a form of service to the Motherland and its national interests. "The path to diplomacy does not start immediately with foreign trips and official visits. It begins here and now - with an active stand in life, participation in socially important causes, aspiration to benefit people," the Minister noted.

M.Ryzhenkov emphasised that the distinctive feature of the essays submitted to the MFA competition was not only the depth of thought and maturity of views, but also genuine love for the Motherland and the desire to defend and promote its interests in various spheres of public life. The Minister emphasised his favourite appraisal of diplomatic officials in one of the essays, quoting the following line: “I want to join the intellectual soldiers squad'.

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