Belarus, EU interested in developing relations, head of the OSCE Office in Minsk

Hans Jochen Schmidt noted the meeting of Foreign Minister of Belarus Sergei Martynov with the EU troika held in Brussels today is a positive sign. The first similar meeting took place in Luxemburg on October 13, 2008.

Improvements in these relations will be assessed in March. The meeting highlighting the Eastern Partnership development project will take place in Prague on May 7.

The Head of the OSCE Office in Minsk is confident Belarus will take an active part in the project. “Your country has a very important geographical position and it is in the interests of all European countries to develop relations with Belarus,” he added.

As for the EU interest in developing cooperation with Belarus, Hans Jochen Schmidt said the European Union has a real interest in intensifying these relations. It is impossible to develop cooperation in Eastern Europe without Belarus’ active participation. “It is important that the parties have mutual interest in developing cooperation in various areas,” the Head of the OSCE Office in Minsk said.

The OSCE Office has organized the first roundtable and is going to take an active part in the second one highlighting the development of mass media in Belarus. “We will also hold expert consultations to discuss and endorse OSCE/ODIHR recommendations on the Election Code modification,” Hans Jochen Schmidt said.

On January 26-28, Sergei Martynov is in Brussels on the invitation of the Czech presidency in the EU to meet with the EU troika at the level of the foreign ministers. Participating in the meeting is the Foreign Ministers of the Czech Republic (current presidency) and Sweden (next presidency), top-ranking officials of the European Commission and General Secretariat of the EU Council.

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