MINSK, 20 April (BelTA) - On 20 April, during a visit to Switzerland, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei met with UN Under-Secretary-General, Director General of the UN Office at Geneva Tatiana Valovaya, who is also the UN Secretary General's personal representative to the Conference on Disarmament, BelTA learned from the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The parties exchanged views on the current international situation. The meeting highlighted the global threats of climate change and growing world order crisis caused by the emerging multipolarity and growing opposition of major powers. The parties stressed the lack of alternatives to multilateral cooperation in addressing global and cross-border issues and highlighted the need to strengthen such cooperation in the macro-region format, including as part of the "integration of integrations" concept.
Tatiana Valovaya supported the joint initiative of Belarus and Barbados to hold a high-level international online conference on horizontal interaction of regional integration associations in late May 2021. The event will highlight the positive experience of macro-regions in helping their countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Tatiana Valovaya praised Belarus' contribution to regional and global security, including its active position on revitalization of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. She stressed it is important to combat the degradation of international security by means of strengthening multilateral institutions.
The topic of sustainable development was also featured on the agenda. The Belarusian minister noted that the government attaches great importance to the work towards the Sustainable Development Goals, as evidenced by the high, 18th, place of Belarus on the UN SDG ranking. He briefed the head of the UN Office at Geneva on the national mechanism for the Sustainable Development Goals. Tatiana Valovaya welcomed the efforts of the Republic of Belarus in this area.
