OREANDA-NEWS. In New York Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of  Belarus, Vladimir Makei, participated in the high-level event “The Force of Civilian Crisis Management – Strengthening the Capacities of the OSCE as a Chapter VIII Organization”.

The meeting was held at the invitation of Germany as the chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Belarus believes that crisis management issues constitute one of the OSCE’s core functions. In order to strengthen this component further actions are needed, including defining legal personality of the Organization on the basis of its charter, developing early warning tools to resolve crises, reinforcing cooperation with the United Nations. Belarus stands ready to provide full support to relevant OSCE undertakings in the context of the situation in Ukraine, including Trilateral Contact Group meetings in Minsk.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus also participated in the working meeting of the countries of the Central European Initiative (CEI).

During his speech, V.Makei supported the idea of submission to the UN General Assembly of a resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and CEI. The Foreign Minister also stressed the importance of interaction between the CEI and the UN to address topical international problems.

V.Makei informed the participants on the conceptual basis of the programme for Belarusian incoming presidency of CEI in 2017.