Belarusians may be most reliable partners of yours - Lukashenka to US rep at MSC Core Group meeting
On October 30 – November 1, Minsk is hosting the Munich Security Conference Core Group meeting.
Armenian president Armen Sarkissian, Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip, foreign ministers of Macedonia, Mongolia, Poland and Slovakia have confirmed their attendance. Moreover, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Lassina Zerbo are taking part in the meeting.
Minsk is set to present its position on key aspects of international and regional security architecture and hold bilateral meetings with officials from different countries, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Anatol Glaz said.
According to the organizers, the event is aimed at keeping the communication going and improving mutual understanding at the time of the escalation of the East-West conflict. Against the background of the alleged beginning of a new Cold War, the organizers hope that Minsk is able to gather representatives of the conflicting parties at the neutral ground for joint and constructive discussion, which may take negotiation processes to a new level.
However, the Munich Conference itself, which takes place exclusively in Munich in February, should not be confused with MSC Core Group meetings, one of which is currently in progress in Minsk. They differ both in format, scope and composition. Core Group meetings have been held since 2009 in order to allow a small group of high-level participants to discuss key issues of international security in the closed format. Previously, venues for similar forums were Moscow, Beijing, Doha, New Delhi, Vienna, Tehran, Addis Ababa and Washington.
Notably, Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka has met with A. Wess Mitchell, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. A few weeks ago, Mr Mitchell promised to support Eastern European countries, i.e. ‘frontier states like Ukraine, Georgia, and even Belarus, that offer the surest bulwark against Russian neo-imperialism’.
“If we make advances in our relations, I promise you that Belarusians will be the most reliable, honest and sincere partners of yours,” the head of state said.
It is not the first time that Minsk has hosted a top European forum, Belarusian political analyst Valery Karbalevich told Belsat. For example, in 2017 the Belarusian capital welcomed participants in the OSCE PA summit, the Foreign Ministers of the Central European Initiative and others.
“After [the annexation of] Crimea, Belarus is going back to Europe’s agenda,” he stressed.
According to the expert, Minsk will try to take advantage of the meeting, because one does not see so many experts and politicians in Minsk everyday.
Karbalevich believes that the main outcome of the event might be a exchange of views between the parties that are able to speak more freely in the absence of mass media, which is of high importance since the safety and security of Eastern Europe is now menaced due to the confrontation between Russia and NATO.
