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Makei: Russia should be involved in Eastern Partnership

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Makei: Russia should be involved in Eastern Partnership

Belarus considers important Russia's participation in the Eastern Partnership, the Belarusian foreign minister says.

Minister of foreign affairs of Belarus Uladzimir Makei finds it important to engage third countries, first of all Russia, in the EaP activities in order to avoid creation of new dividing lines in the region. He made the statement on July 22 at the EaP ministerial meeting in Brussels, the press service of the Belarusian MFA reports.

He also emphasised the importance of harmonising different integration processes.

In his plenary statement Makei outlined “Belarus’ principal approaches towards the development of the relations with the European Union and participation in the Eastern Partnership”. He underscored the necessity for a greater differentiation in the relations of the EU with the EaP partner countries “with account taken of their needs, interests and integration aspirations”.

“The Ministerial Meeting focused on the EaP implementation after the 2013 Vilnius Summit as well as the prospects of future development and possible reformatting taking into account the current situation in the region and the signing by Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine of the Association Agreements with the EU,” the MFA reports.

The ministers also discussed preparation for the EaP forth Summit, which is due to be held in Riga (Latvia) on 22 May 2015.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Štefan Füle and foreign ministers of EU member states took part in the meeting.

As part of the visit to Brussels, Makei held a number of meetings with top officials of the European External Action Service, the European Commission, EU and EaP foreign ministers. “Current issues and opportunities of developing cooperation between Belarus and the European partners at the EU and bilateral level” were discussed during the meetings.

Photo: Reuters

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