MINSK, 8 April (BelTA) – Belarus and Israel have united their efforts in the situation with the embassies for the benefit of their people, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Israel Vladimir Skvortsov said in an interview with Israel's newspaper Weekly News, BelTA learnt from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the Ambassador, in this situation “both the sides demonstrated readiness and ability to unity efforts in order to achieve a positive result that meets the interests of the two countries and their people.” Vladimir Skvortsov told the newspaper about active diplomatic steps taken by both the parties at different stages of the discussion on the fate of the Israeli Embassy in Belarus. A number of meetings with Israeli counterparts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and also with MPs of the Knesset and representatives of other ministries involved in bilateral cooperation. The embassy held briefings and interviews, explaining the position of Belarus.
Also involved in the discussion on the Israeli Embassy in Minsk were politicians, the Knesset MPs, founders and members of the parliamentary Russian-speaking lobby that spoke in favor of Israel's diplomatic presence in Belarus.
“We have once again seen what importance is attached to the development of relations with Belarus by numerous people from different layers of the Israeli society,” said the Ambassador. He expressed gratitude to all Israeli partners that demonstrate a friendly attitude towards Belarus and have made a significant contribution to both the discussion and the positive outcome of the process.
“The official letter we got telling us about the status quo of the Israeli diplomatic mission in Minsk gave Belarus the grounds revisit the issue of resuming the full-fledged operation of its diplomatic mission in Israel. We should maintain our diplomatic cooperation on an equal footing,” the diplomat said.
At the start of the year the Embassy of Israel announced its intention to close its embassy in Minsk as part of its efforts to save budgetary resources. Belarus, being guided by the principle of reciprocity, intended to complete the activity of its diplomatic mission in Tel Aviv. Later, the Prime Minister of Israel took a decision to keep Israel's diplomatic presence in Belarus. Belarus' decision in respect to its diplomatic presence in Israel was alike.
