MINSK, 16 February (BelTA) – Belarus will keep acting as a security donor, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei told reporters on 16 February, BelTA has learned.
“We want to remain a security donor no matter how skeptical some people may be about this in the current situation, the situation of the sanctions-based confrontation between Belarus and the European Union,” the foreign minister said.
“No one can say that Belarus contributed to tension, instability in our region and the world as a whole,” the minister stated. In this regard, he recalled Belarus' numerous initiatives put forward at international platforms. They include efforts to combat human trafficking, a proposal to launch a Helsinki 2 dialogue and create a digital neighborhood belt. Many of these ideas were discussed, for example, at such venues as the Minsk Dialogue, where foreign partners could talk not about each other, but with each other.
In his opinion, in order to find a way out of the difficult situation Europe is facing, it is necessary to find mutually acceptable points of contact, to persistently promote dialogue no matter how difficult it may be. “We are not going to abandon this role and do not intend to take steps that would lead to increased tension in our region. Yet, of course, we cannot calmly watch what is happening around us. If necessary, we will have to respond to the growing tension in our region and developments along our western and southern border. We will take adequate steps,” Vladimir Makei stressed.
