OREANDA-NEWS   On May 19, 2017 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, attended the opening ceremony of the conference «25 Years of Foreign Policy of the Republic of Belarus», organized as part of the “Minsk Dialogue” expert initiative.

Among the participants of the conference were Ministers, who headed the Belarusian Foreign Ministry at different times — Piotr Kravchenko, Vladimir Senko, Ivan Antonovich, Ural Latypov, Mikhail Khvostov, Sergei Martynov. In addition, MPs, Belarusian and foreign diplomats, representatives of the academic community and expert circles participated in the forum.

In his statement, V.Makei noted the importance of holding such events, stressing that the Foreign Ministry will always support “think tanks” that are aimed at the improvement of the Belarusian state and development of our sovereignty. “Studying an alternative point of view on certain processes gives the opportunity to crystallize the right direction of the development of society and state,” V.Makei said.

The Head of the Belarusian Foreign Office drew the attention of the participants of the conference to the counterproductive nature of the discussion on the need for Belarus to choose between the West and the East. “We have been constantly pushed to the so-called “final geopolitical choice” both from the East and the West,” noted V.Makei. — I would like to reiterate: Belarusian interests do not concentrate on one direction, and our foreign policy is not a notorious attempt to keep a foot in both worlds. Its’ essence lies in the development of internal and external conditions for building the multiplicity of geopolitical supports".