MINSK, 8 July (BelTA) - Belarus is open to an equal dialogue with the European Union, press secretary of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Anatoly Glaz said in an interview with the ONT TV channel on 7 July, BelTA has learned.
"We are definitely against the relations that go along the lines of ‘mentor-student', 'we say, you listen' or the relations that we see in some countries, including in the neighboring ones, when an emissary or a commissioner, whatever you call them, sits in the government to make sure that what this country is doing complies with the interests of the EU, not this country. We did not start today's discord. We did not take a single anti-European step," Anatoly Glaz said.
According to him, all the steps taken by Belarus have been reciprocal. "We are open to a normal equal dialogue and we reaffirm our commitment to dialogue in every statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
"Now we do not have a representative of the European Union in Belarus and only a few European ambassadors. All other foreign missions are functioning at the ambassadorial level. So there was no mass exodus. We are an open country, always friendly to all. A diplomatic presence is important for the economy, but an ambassador must work within the framework of the Vienna Convention. Their main task is clearly defined: to develop friendly relations and other types of cooperation with a host country," Anatoly Glaz noted.
He stressed that ambassadors who are set "to promote democracy", "oversee human rights", "participate in unauthorized protests", "assess the law enforcement and judicial system" or those who declare these goals when coming here can hardly be called diplomats.
"This is some new synthetic expression of the Western vision of diplomatic work. But, fortunately, no self-respecting country would ever agree to such a vision of diplomatic work. No sovereign country in the world will tolerate this," Anatoly Glaz said.
