Andrei Popov, Foreign Ministry Press Secretary, responding to media questions following the briefing

BelaPAN: What’s the Foreign Ministry’s assessment of the negotiations that are held by Belarus and the European Union? Can you comment on the “roadmap” proposed by the Belarusian side, specifically, NGOs?

Answer: I am ready to take the second question by saying that our current contacts with the European partners are not relative to formalizing any “roadmaps” or the likes of it. In this context we do not discuss this topic in any sort of a tough format. 

Based on the agreements reached by the parties during the recent meetings of our Foreign Minister with the senior officials of the European Commission and Council for Foreign Policy of the European Union, we are continuing consultations to bring the co-operation into a practical area where the parties have an utterly clear mutual interest. We have said quite a few times what sort of areas that would be, yesterday we shared details thereof with you. Those are trade and economic cluster of issues, customs co-operation, development of transit infrastructure, energy security, and the list just goes on.

Certainly, we are positive about having the co-operation move into a practical area now, into an area of direct contacts between the experts. We hope that that will bring specific results that will be in line with the interests of both Belarusian and European parties. We reckon that such work is carried out in the interests of Belarus and, on the whole, of the wider united Europe which is why we certainly are an advocate of such work.

 

Interfax: I have a question to pick up the issue of the European Commission’s delegation visiting. Yesterday Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov said that Belarus was doing its “homework”. Mr Mingarelli (Deputy Director General of the Directorate General for External Relations of the European Commission) said that the European Commission proposed three new areas of co-operation: co-operation of financial institutions, food security and quality of goods. Could you please be more specific in setting out what sort of “homework” we have been given and where do you stand on those new areas suggested?

Answer: You know, regarding «homework», we are sticking to the principle that the parties do not press something on anybody here. Our belief is that a fundamental of the co-operation between the parties is mutual respect for each other’s interests. We believe that there are areas where the parties take an obvious mutual interest and such co-operation is not only in the interests of Belarus. We are not begging anybody for anything, we are able and capable to propose co-operation to the European Union where the EU may arguably be in a position to extract solid benefits.

Reasonably, we highlight the widest range of issues during our consultations, negotiations, and do not retreat from the issues and problems raised with us by the European colleagues. They concern a variety of things, but our belief is that it is necessary to close in on specific results in our co-operation to give the citizens and economies of the EU member states and Belarus a feeling of the result from our co-operation.

It seems that we are now faced up with an imperative need, particularly, in a changed economic reality the world over, in the co-operation with each other and reaping concrete practical benefits from it. We think that our European partners are now more aware of that and this is where we stand now.

New proposals, reasonably, offer an apparent practical interest to us. We are advocates of co-operation, we put this message across to the media yesterday. We stand up for getting closer to the European space including from the point of view of ultimate closeness with the economic, environmental and other standard that are passed and effective in Europe. We think that that is in line with the interests of the Republic of Belarus and hope that the European side will put in a potential of consultative technical assistance for us to that end. We are open for such co-operation and will keep it going.

 

Radio Svaboda: The Foreign Ministry broke a message on its official website that a large delegation had headed to the NATO headquarters involving the representatives of the Foreign Ministry. Firstly, I’d like to ask who that was, their level, and secondly I wonder if that was just another regular visit as the great many before or in light of the changes happening now between Belarus and the European Union there is something noteworthy about the visit putting it in a special different place from those before.

Answer: The level was working. We thought that ad-hoc experts would be required to secure specific results from the visit. It is to this very end that relevant team leaders were sent in there. I believe the Ministry of Defence was represented by a slightly higher level of the senior officials of the General Staff. The Foreign Ministry was represented by the heads of the international security and arms control division. We do not see anything special about that co-operation since it has been ongoing. As you might have taken due note, the meeting was held under “26+Belarus” format. That is an official format of our co-operation with NATO that has been previously identified and confirmed. We have never ceased the co-operation, it has a number of practical directions to it, we have never turned the co-operation down and have always been a vocal advocate of it being a security safeguard in our region in the widest sense. As you know, the fully-fledged co-operation is obviously impossible without Belarus that is importantly placed in the European landscape from the geopolitical perspective. We think that our NATO partners have the same stance and co-operate with us.

 

RIA Novosti: What are the Belarus Foreign Ministry’s expectations for the Belarus-US relations following the election of President Barack Obama?

Answer: Firstly, I’d like to say that certainly we strongly respect the choice made by the American people. We think and duly expect the same manner of respect shown by the American administration for the results of political campaigns conducted in our country.

We have said before and reiterate it now that we are ready to work with any representative of the US administration who is ready to respect the interests of the Republic of Belarus and develop Belarus-US relations on the footing of respect for each other’s interests and pragmatism.

 

ONT: What’s your assessment of the Lithuanian Prime Minister’s statement that there is a need to lower the costs of Schenghen visas for Belarusians?

Answer: Certainly, we welcome the willingness of the countries, Belarus neighbours, in the first place, to do their utmost to simplify inter-human contacts, economic, humanitarian and other ties between the Republic of Belarus and European Union member states. That is an objective need, it is important for neighbours since inter-human contacts, as you understand, lay a basis to the development of ties in a variety of fields. Therefore, we are reasonably positive about such statements. We know that our Lithuanian partners and heads of another few countries bordering on Belarus are making practical steps in the area at the level of the European Union.

We welcome the work and believe that until now there has been an extremely complicated procedure of Schenghen visa issuance for Belarusian citizens, bureaucratized to the point of absurdity and rather costly which is unacceptable and wrong. This we have made known to our European colleagues a great many times at different levels. We consider this should change in the nearest future.

 

Interfax: You have put it in relation to the NATO meeting that this is in essence regular co-operation within our ongoing contacts. However, does the title of the format of the “26 + Belarus” meeting indicate any increased interest of Brussels in the meeting? Have there been meetings of the same format before?

Answer: The meetings of this format took place before. They were carried out, also at the level of our representation to NATO. As you know, Ambassador to Belgium Vladimir Senko is also accredited to NATO, therefore he was in attendance at all those events. Such events took place before which is why there’s nothing special about it.

We believe that this is an objective need in the situation where a consolidated security space is obviously required to be created in our region, in the region of wider Europe, including both EU member states and their immediate neighbours. It is evident that such co-operation is impossible without Belarus, even from the point of view of those interests that NATO exercises in, say, Afghanistan relative to the transit of NATO military cargoes through our territory. I mean the overflight of aircraft.

We have always been ready for the co-operation with NATO constructively in this area. Certainly, based on the principles of mutual respect for each other’s interests and on that NATO is required to take note of our concerns, our interests in the safeguarding of the pan-European security.