MINSK, 20 August (BelTA) – Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei has addressed the Belarusian diplomatic service. BelTA publishes the full text of the address.
Dear colleagues,
I have always been proud and will be proud of the team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our country and the entire system of the diplomatic service of the Republic of Belarus.
Maybe, over a quarter of a century we have not achieved breathtaking results, but the Belarusian diplomacy has never done things it could be ashamed of.
You know better than me that your work has produced a lot of appreciable benefits for our country, people and each Belarusian.
Unfortunately, our country is now probably going through the most difficult stage in its contemporary history. The Belarusian statehood is at stake.
All of you are patriots, well-educated, talented and non-indifferent people. Therefore, it is understandable that we all are taking the ongoing developments close to heart and are greatly worried about our nation and the Fatherland.
We cannot stand aside, because we share universal human values and our Belarusian values and we support the unity of the nation, we reject radicalism and unjustified violence. We all support what Belarusians call ‘humane attitude'.
“Do you support the white or the red?” I also receive such questions and proposals; our country has already gone through this before.
Indeed, we always have to make a fair and honest choice. The question is in what circumstances this choice is made.
One thing is when civil servants holding certain posts are threatened. But this surreptitious, anonymous pressure on their families, including underage children does not square with the term ‘democracy'. I am ready to go for the jugular for the tears of my eleven-year old son.
It has nothing to do with democracy. It reeks of pogroms and reprisals.
Some will give in to these threats. However, I would like to thank the bullies, because such actions cement those who wish good to their Motherland.
These are personal things.
Dear colleagues,
Everyone has the right to feel emotions, to have certain views as a citizen and a human being. Our profession needs passionate and engaged people.
However, diplomats should also have a realistic view of the world.
Finding a consensus is one of our duties. We work to build peace, promote friendship, facilitate trade and investment and forge humanitarian and human contacts. We should also launch a dialogue even in the most difficult, even desperate conditions.
While doing it, diplomats have to deal with opposing points of view and find a consensus with respect to all the positions. You can do it well.
Therefore, do not forget what your mission is. While expressing your stance, do not try to split the team whose work is important, first of all, for the country and its people.
If you cannot find a motivation to do it, for one reason or another, do not compromise your beliefs, be honest and resolute till the end.
Colleagues, you should never blindly follow the crowd. You are diplomats, you rely on your own judgments and feelings.
Changes are needed, no one denies it. But not at the cost of civil confrontation or revolutions as in this case the number of victims and negative consequences will be many times bigger. We have already been thrown back many years in our development due to the events of the recent days.
This is not what Belarusians and the country deserve. The evolutionary process, even if it is slow, is always more effective in the long term. We deserve better, where everyone is a personality, a countryman, a partner and a whole world for each other, not ‘red' or ‘white'.
We are now going through a painful stage of development of independence, a civil society. Please, always analyze the situation. It is difficult to do it with such an information flow, but you can do it.
At this crucial moment for our country, it is more important than ever to defend foreign policy interests of Belarus. They remain intact.
Put aside your emotions and ask yourself: can I still be of use to the country in my area of work?
I know my answer, because I do not want to lose my country.
If your answer is yes, then cast aside your doubts and let us continue doing our job responsibly!
Perhaps it was this point in history that fate was preparing you for!
