OREANDA-NEWS. January 22, 2007. The European Union plays a crucial role in Belarus’ accession to WTO, Anton Kudasov, Head of the Overseas Trade Policies Department of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, told a press conference in Minsk on January 21.

He remarked, both the European Union, which is a collective member of the WTO, and Belarus understand that the European Union’s view will mean a lot for Belarus’ accession to the WTO. Anton Kudasov underscored, in the politics area there are signs of the European Union’s getting a warmer attitude towards Belarus, important steps to meet were made last year. Therefore, the Belarusian side hopes a regular meeting with European partners will be held soon to discuss Belarus’ accession to the WTO.