Belarus Will Significantly Reduce Its Diplomatic Presence in the EU

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Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei explained the restructuring by “sanctions pressure” from the West. At the same time, he announced plans to increase the diplomatic presence of Belarus in the CIS, China and India. Belarus will significantly reduce its diplomatic presence in Western European countries and increase it in the CIS, as well as in China and other foreign countries. This was announced on Monday, December 20, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Vladimir Makei following the results of the report to Alexander Lukashenko. “We are significantly reducing our diplomatic presence in European countries. I do not mean that we are reducing embassies and foreign institutions. We are reducing the number of diplomatic staff. But we are largely transferring it to other areas of work, to other areas where they will be in demand - these are CIS countries, we are strengthening a number of embassies, and countries of the far arc,” the minister said. Sanctions pressure Makei explained the reduction of the diplomatic presence of Belarus in Western European countries by “serious sanctions pressure”. “We see that, unfortunately, the level of interaction between our foreign institutions and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the countries of accreditation has decreased. This applies primarily to Western Europe. At the same time, there is a need to strengthen our activities on other flanks,” the Belarusian Foreign Minister said. According to Makei, Belarus’ diplomatic presence will be strengthened in countries that are strategically important partners for it, including China and India. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry will soon have a special department of China. The Minister noted that there are also plans to open new embassies in Africa – countries “that are both solvent and where our products are in demand”. DW