MINSK, 25 February (BelTA) – In 2020, Belarus came under massive external pressure, including sanctions, on the part of the Western countries as a result of the hypertrophied reaction to the results of the presidential election in the country, Belarus' Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said as he spoke at the board meeting of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 25 February to review the diplomatic service in 2020. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko, BelTA has learned.
The minister emphasized that the session aims to sum up the country's performance in the previous year and outline tasks for the future.
According to the minister, the agenda of the meeting is quite packed, and the traditional format of the meeting has been slightly changed this year to expand the list of speakers. In addition to the main report on the results of the diplomatic service in 2020, a number of Belarusian ambassadors are expected to speak. The heads of the Industry Ministry and the Agriculture and Food Ministry are set to speak on the export promotion to the markets of distant countries. The prime minister is also expected to deliver a speech with a focus on the tasks for 2021.
“2020 was a year of trials for our state, as well as for the entire world community. International relations were no exception, either. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Belarusian foreign institutions had to act and respond to the rapidly changing environment and external factors in many areas of work. We have fully experienced the growth of global and regional instability, geopolitical and geo-economic rivalry. We have witnessed growing tensions in international relations and a further shift of emphasis in global politics from partnership to increasingly fierce competition, which were only exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic,” Vladimir Makei stressed.
“As a result of the hypertrophied reaction to the results of the presidential election in our country, Belarus came under massive external pressure, including sanctions, on part of the Western countries. This was very accurately pointed out in the report of President Aleksandr Lukashenko at the 6th Belarusian People's Congress,” the minister said.
