Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus O.Kravchenko meets members of the Working Party on Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the EU Foreign Affairs Council
08 July 201908-07-2019
On July 8, 2019 the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Oleg Kravchenko, met with the members of the Working Party on Eastern Europe and Central Asia (COEST) of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. The COEST delegation comprising representatives of Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the European External Action service is paying a working visit to Belarus.
The participants discussed the state of political dialogue and sectoral cooperation between Belarus and the EU, the country’s participation the Eastern Partnership initiative, implementation of EU-funded assistance projects in Belarus, as well as the situation in the Eastern European region.
O.Kravchenko outlined the Belarus’ vision of future cooperation with the EU to the COEST delegation. Deputy Minister stressed the need to promptly lift the remaining EU sanctions and embark on talks on a new framework agreement. O.Kravchenko presented the approach of Belarus to confidence-building and defusing tensions in the region. He spoke out in favour of a direct dialogue between the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union with a view to shaping a common economic area.
The COEST delegation is also scheduled to meet with the heads of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education and the Central Electoral Commission.