President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko says it is necessary to hold an international summit in the coming years as part of the new Helsinki process.
“The need to hold an international summit in the framework of the new Helsinki process in the coming years under the auspices of the OSCE, and possibly under the auspices of the United Nations is becoming increasingly obvious. A strategic document should be adopted to strengthen international security in the Euro-Atlantic and wider on a large scale”, – Lukashenko said at the international conference “European Security: move away from the edge of the abyss” in Minsk on Tuesday.
According to him, “today it is impossible to resolve these issues without such a heavyweight as the People’s Republic of China”.
“It is important to take into account the opinion of other countries, whose influence in the world is growing today. We are ready to promote the idea of Helsinki-2, the dialogue between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, the CSTO and NATO, conjugation with the Chinese project “One Belt, One Way ”, with the SCO, ASEAN, the creation of a “ Digital Neighborhood Belt”. We will support all constructive ideas aimed at overcoming dividing lines, preserving peace”, – Lukashenko assured.
He also noted that “the big powers have reason to treat each other with distrust”.
“Unfriendly or even aggressive actions in the past root mutual suspicions and fears for many years to come. Ideally, we need to return to the concept of European security based on cooperation. To the values of Helsinki and its final act, the Charter of Paris for a New Europe”, – said Lukashenko.
According to him, “a strong success story is urgently needed that will convince even ardent skeptics and hawks that, despite deep contradictions and misunderstandings, security interests in Europe are absolutely compatible”.
The President added that Belarus is largely shaping such a success story on regional security issues, and the country will continue to pursue such a course. “Over the past two decades, Belarus has found itself in a unique situation. On the one hand, we are the military-political ally of our Russia, a party to the Collective Security Treaty Organization. At the same time, our country has concluded international treaties in the field of security and confidence-building measures with all neighbors, including with NATO member states. We are ready to fill these bilateral agreements with new content and improve them”, – Lukashenko said.
According to him, the signals that the Belarusian side receives from partners indicate that they are ready for such interaction.
“This is a unique resource in the current situation. And we all must use it”, – the Belarusian leader emphasized.