MINSK, 18 September (BelTA) – The state has to protect itself from destructive impact from within and from without. Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei made the statement as part of a recording of his speech ahead of the general debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, BelTA has learned.
Vladimir Makei noted that if the European Union enforces sanctions against Belarus, the country will be forced to respond. “Certainly, there will be personal sanctions against representatives of various European Union bodies and representatives of individual European Union member states. We've already drafted the list. We will be ready to put it to use immediately after European Union makes its own decision,” he stated.
Vladimir Makei also stressed that the state has to protect itself from destructive impact from within and from without. “If some sanctions are enforced against Belarus, I think the Belarusian state will take relevant steps relating to, let's say, the domestic political functioning of the state. It may involve the political system, the operation of foreign mass media, which are accredited in Belarus. There is a set of totally radical measures, too, if we – shall we say – are forced to take these steps,” he noted.
In his words, among other things Belarus may revise its participation in various initiatives and organizations, which work without involving the country will have no sense. “The extreme measures include the revision of the level of diplomatic presence, the possibility of maintaining diplomatic relations with certain countries. I am speaking theoretically and hypothetically about the choice of possible response measures in case our partners force us to take such steps. I hope that common sense will prevail, that all the sides in this situation will be reasonable. First of all, our partners, who accuse Belarus, the country's government of all the deadly sins without even trying to understand what is going on in Belarus and objectively evaluate the situation,” Vladimir Makei said.
