Ambassador of Belarus to Latvia Vasily Markovich participates in the international conference of the Eastern Partnership in Riga

The Ambassador of Belarus to Latvia Vasily Markovich took part in the international conference “The 10 years of the Eastern Partnership: what happened, what lies ahead”, which was held on 22 March 2019 at the Latvian MFA in Riga.

The event was attended by high-ranking officials of the Foreign Ministries of Latvia and Romania (in its capacity as the Presidency of the Council of the European Union), the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Latvian Saeima, heads of diplomatic missions of foreign countries accredited in Latvia, and experts.

In his statement, Vasily Markovich underlined Belarus’ willingness to develop normal and mutually beneficial cooperation with the strong, united and prosperous European Union, also under the Eastern Partnership initiative.

The Ambassador of Belarus noted the importance of the non-confrontational character of the Eastern Partnership, which in not directed against anybody. He stressed that raising the efficiency and visibility of the initiative in the partner countries and in the EU is possible through implementation of concrete projects to solve problems facing the population.

Vasily Markovich put forward a proposal to arrange the EaP summits not only in Brussels, but also in the partner countries, including Belarus, thus improving the image of this initiative and of the EU as a whole. The Ambassador pointed out a potentially important role of the Eastern Partnership in drawing together the European and the Eurasian integrations and creating the necessary conditions for their successful contacts.

Vasily Markovich informed the participants about Belarus’ contribution to regional security, also to the peaceful settlement in Ukraine. He outlined the initiative by the President of Belarus to launch a constructive dialogue between the major centers of power to search for new measures to strengthen trust, thus preventing return to the Cold War and restoring cooperation in view of the changed world order and emergence of new challenges and threats, which could be confronted only with joint efforts by all interested parties.

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