MINSK, 9 May (BelTA) – Belarus' Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Oleg Kravchenko took part in the Visegrad Group and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) ministerial meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Attending the event were also Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania Teodor Melescanu, European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn and Secretary General of the European External Action Service Helga Schmid. The participants of the ministerial meeting discussed the achievements and prospects of the Eastern Partnership for the next decade, the contribution of the initiative to regional security, connectivity, infrastructure, energy and interpersonal contacts. Oleg Kravchenko emphasized the importance of further development of the Eastern Partnership as a flexible, pragmatic and non-confrontational initiative aimed for achieving economically-sound results in different areas in the people's interests.
The deputy minister stressed the need to foster ties in transport, energy, communications and digital economy in order to enhance connectivity between the EU and partner countries. Oleg Kravchenko called upon the European Union to start talks on the framework agreement with Belarus.
