Foreign Minister of Belarus responding to Media Questions at the close of the Joint Panel of the Foreign Ministries of Belarus and Russia held 30 January 2008 in Minsk

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation have just rounded off a session of the joint panel. This is a regular meeting that we organize once in a two-year time. Central to the meeting is the approval of the Programme of Concerted Actions in Foreign Policy of the Union State Agreement member states, for 2008–2009 in this particular case, and of the Plan of Consultations between the MFA of the Republic of Belarus and the MFA of the Russian Federation.

Both documents reflect high-rate concurrency of foreign policies pursued by our countries and strong coordination between our two Foreign Ministries in their activities. I would like to let you know that the panel has approved both documents.

To add more, we have discussed in detail how our two Ministries can co-operate to combat new challenges and threats and interact in the quarters of the UN, OSCE and other international organizations in relation to the topics that are of interest for us.

I would like to underscore that the current working visit by Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov and his colleagues to Minsk offered a platform for numerous contacts between relevant structures and divisions of the two Ministries. We agreed to work in the closest manner possible in the future.

Yesterday Sergei Viktorovich was received in audience by the President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko. The meeting with the Head of State also provided a possibility for the discussion of our co-operation.

Questions

«Vremya Novostei» Newspaper (Russia): Re. Programme of Concerted Actions in Foreign Policy. Do you think it would help Belarus improve its relationship with western countries that is now not that good, as you know? To be specific, will it solve the problem of sanctions introduced by the EU and the US and the problem of the US pledge to extend sanctions?

Sergei Martynov: I would like to say that the Programme of Concerted Actions in Foreign Policy is not geographically driven, the way you are talking. It is shaped by and based on the national interests of both countries and aimed to safeguard them across the whole perimeter. Clearly, the consultations and European- and Wider West-oriented co-operation belong there, too.

It is no secret for you that the Republic of Belarus considers Belarus-bound criticisms – to say the least of unilateral coercive measures in economy – to be groundless and unfair. And we thank the Russian Federation for their support of our stance there.

Currently, we are working with Russia and liaising with the European Union and other Western partners to neutralize those things, to have the economic sanctions withdrawn, in actual fact, let alone extended. We shall wait and see what results we are going to get.

«Belarus Segodnya» Newspaper (Belarus): Russia will hold a presidential election shortly, in late September it is Belarus that will hold a parliamentary election. Belarus made a statement already that it would not put restrictions on the number of international monitors to be invited for the election. Very frequently, even always, prior election campaigns showcased a divergence of the international monitoring results, e.g. produced by the OSCE and CIS missions and followed up by comments that the problem should be handled, specifically, by way of inventing uniform standards of international monitoring. I would like to know how well both countries are prepared for the elections, and what was done to that end?

Sergei Martynov: In relation to the election preparations inside the countries, it is a domestic matter for either nation.

As regards our co-operation with OSCE and ODIHR that you have mentioned, our position remains invariable. Our stances here are very close, they nearly coincide, in fact. The bottom line is that OSCE ODIHR employs different standards for different countries, to our gravest regret. The practices of the recent years show it clearly, the practices of monitoring in the countries “to the East and to the West of Vienna” where the number of monitors on the mission varies, with different criteria of assessments, findings and conclusions.

We believe it must not continue the way it does. To this end, not only Belarus and Russia but also ODKB (Collective Security Treaty Organization) member states filed a proposition at the OSCE fora, the latest Ministerial conference in Madrid included, to develop uniform standards and criteria for the OSCE operations and, specifically, those of ODIHR. We shall press ahead to get the matter resolved successfully. And if we find support of other OSCE member states, we may have every confidence that there will be no divergence in the assessment of biased and non-biased monitoring any longer.

Interfax News Agency (Russia): Belarus, and Russia to a lesser degree, became faced up with troublesome customs clearance via the Belarus-Poland border and the Poland-Russia border accordingly. Would you please tell us what sort of damage was caused to Belarus and Russia as a result of those actions? How legitimate are those methods of conflicting in terms of international law?

Sergei Martynov: Referring to this question and the extents of damage, I am certain that Belarusian businesses have launched the count. I would like to rest assured that businesses of other countries are doing the same thing.

As for legitimacy, I’d like to say that the exercise of rights by one group of people shall not prevent the exercise of rights by other groups of people and countries.

In a wider context, we gather this problem that has cropped up in recent days demonstrates that it should not be reduced to one country or one group of people. It is a problem of how the controls are maintained at the eastern border of the European Union and how normal economic turnover and normal contacts between people are ensured.

We regret to note that in recent days this problem made the border a physical obstacle in fact towards normal economic turnover and inter-personal contacts.

We welcome active efforts on the part of the Polish government, not without success as the latest developments show, to get the problem sorted out. We welcome the European Commission’s input into resolving the problem.

However, we think that we all have to learn a lesson, a positive lesson, for the future. It comes down to obvious understanding that it is high time that EU officials and neighbouring countries (including Belarus, Russia in this particular case) settled down to the development of a system of measures to prevent such situations in the future. The system that would include, for instance, early warning about a likely crisis, contingency measures, and close co-operation and crisis mitigation measures when a crisis unfolds.

I believe this sort of job would be very sensible and answer to the interests of all, both the European Union and its neighbours.

I would say another single thing. To the best of my understanding, a convenient forum that can address those problems might be a forthcoming joint panel of the customs authorities of Belarus and Russia. Unless I am mistaken, both customs authorities extended an invitation to the EU officials to attend the forum.