Strategic cooperation with Russia in 2020 continued to be comprehensive. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Vladimir Makei, reports the Telegram channel BelTA.
He said that during the Belarusian presidency, cooperation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) with other regional associations – the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – deepened. p>
“We continued to advocate the formation of sustainable mechanisms for a full-format dialogue between the EAEU and the EU,” Makei noted.
Minsk hosts a meeting of the collegium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus to consider the results of work for 2020. The participants in the meeting stated that the country was subjected to massive external pressure, including sanctions. Makei explained that the pressure was exerted by Western countries as a result of a “hypertrophied reaction” to the results of the presidential elections.
Earlier, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko announced the country’s interest in a multi-vector policy and effective cooperation with other countries, including Western ones. He stressed that economic and political pressure on Belarus from foreign states should be excluded.
Throughout 2019 and the first half of 2020, before the presidential elections, which triggered the start of mass protests in Belarus, Lukashenko has repeatedly stated the need to pursue a multi-vector policy and build an independent country. He regularly complained about the “imperial manners” of Russia, criticizing the integration project within the framework of the Union State.