PM: Economic blitzkrieg against Belarus failed

MINSK, 14 December (BelTA) – The economic blitzkrieg against Belarus has failed, Belarus' Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said as he introduced newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Aleinik to the staff of the ministry, BelTA has learned.

“The main area of focus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is foreign economy. In the conditions of the sanctions, foreign economy is becoming a key priority. And there is no place for idle talk, formal reports and things done for the sake of appearances. We have quite successfully passed the crunch point associated with economic pressure. This required serious efforts at all levels. Today we can already say that the economic blitzkrieg has failed. We need to continue doing our work calmly. ‘Calmly' does not mean relaxed attitude to work, but accuracy and confidence in our actions,” Roman Golovchenko said.

He emphasized that tangible results are needed: maintaining a balance in foreign trade, diversifying exports, focusing on promising markets. “Our true partners are those countries where we are welcome, where our products are welcome and where we are given no ultimatums. Objectively, these are the EAEU and the CIS member states, China and other faraway countries where we keep working as we did. Embassies should not wait for instructions but team up with industry professionals to promote our goods, services, and attract investments,” the prime minister said.

“The work to counteract sanctions should not turn into a routine. I have already voiced my discontent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its individual employees about the quality and efficiency of this work. We often act post hoc. In other words, sanctions are introduced, the foreign ministry documents them, sends papers, suggests something, we begin to think how to counteract them. However, we do not need the statement of fact about the sanctions, we have open sources for this. What is really needed is to assess possible consequences at the stage of development of anti-Belarusian plans (and this process is ongoing), to develop proposals for minimizing damage and responding to sanctions. This response should be appreciable, not formal,” the Belarusian head of government noted.

It is important that the work to counter the sanctions goes hand in hand with the information campaign in the respective countries, said Roman Golovchenko. “The target audience are not the authorities (we will not change them), but the public of these countries. It is necessary to explain to them that we were forced to respond, that the sanctions are a deadlock and hit ordinary people the most,” he said.

“Constant and systematic analytical work is needed to effectively fulfill the tasks assigned to the foreign ministry. Today, it is vital to ensure high-quality forecasting, development and support of decision-making at the state level. This is the only way for domestic diplomacy to be able to effectively protect national interests,” the prime minister concluded.