According to the minister, he conveyed this position to his Western counterparts, but they “do not feel that Belarus is ready to go to the end to defend the independence and sovereignty of the state”.
The European Union wants to make Belarus a pariah state, turn its government into outcasts, and proceed to the tactics of strangling the country, Belarus Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said in an interview to the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
We believe that it is important not only to increase the volume of mutual trade, but also to diversity it and use new instruments in our work, Belarus Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said as he met with ambassadors of African countries on the sidelines of the second Belarusian-African Economic Forum.
“Only two out of 28 Union State programs remain pending. These are programs on the formation of the common gas market and the harmonization of tax legislation. We have made very significant progress in drafting these two programs,” Vladimir Makei said.
Belarus has solid presence in African markets of haul trucks, farm machinery
MINSK, 31 May (BelTA) – Belarus and African countries have maintained friendly relations for a long time, Belarus Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said as he met with ambassadors of African countries on the sidelines of the second Belarusian-African Economic Forum, BelTA has learned.
“We are not a terra incognita for each other. Belarusian machinery is well-known in African markets, our engineers took part in infrastructure projects there, and many citizens of African countries studied in Minsk,” Vladimir Makei noted.
In the past three years, the mutual trade between Belarus and African countries totaled $1.8 billion. “We have come a long way from the annual trade of some $160 million in the early 2000s to more than $550 million in 2020. However, there is still room for growth. We should step up work on this front,” Vladimir Makei stressed.