EU takes dominant lead in talks of Belarus’ joining WTO

The European Union takes a dominant lead in the process of Belarus joining the World Trade Organization, told the deputy director of the foreign economic policy department, the head of foreign policy department of Foreign Ministry of Belarus Anton Kudasau.

“The final result to a large extent depends on how the talks with the EU would take place,” Kudasau noted. As said by him, out of 20 states with which talks are held at the moment, protocols have been signed with 10 states. “We have made more considerable progress in the talks with South Korea, Japan, Brazil, Norway and Switzerland”, Kudasau noted.

The main objectives in the near term are negotiations with the EU and the US, he said.

Speaking about the time of Belarus’ joining the WTO, the head of the foreign trade department of the Foreign Ministry has underlined that the Belarusian side would “discuss that with pleasure in case our partners were eager to discuss it”. “The 10-year bar (the term for Belarus’ joining the WTO) has been raised long ago, and not by us,” he said.

A representative of the Foreign Ministry has also conveyed a message that retardation of the process of Belarus’ entry to the WTO is not created by objective causes. “One of the less developed countries with minimal income level of per capita has been admitted to the WTO recently,” Kudasau underlined.