By Veronika Buta: A summit of the Central European Initiative took place in Minsk. The participants discussed integration processes in Europe, strengthening of economic cooperation and unification of efforts in addressing new threats and challenges.
The head of the Belarusian government is convinced that the countries of the CEI region can become a link between the East and the West.
Andrei Kobyakov, the Prime Minister of Belarus: "For us, participation in the Central European Initiative is an additional opportunity to improve mutual understanding with the European Union through specific programmes and projects, including in the area of regional development, which the CEI implements jointly with the EU."
The Chinese initiative – the Belt & Way – did not go unnoticed at the summit. After all, for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the development of logistics and transport infrastructure is becoming increasingly relevant. Belarus, during its presidency, paid particular attention to this issue. Standards should be brought together, customs procedures should be simplified, logistics developed and digital markets harmonized.
Among other important areas of the Belarusian presidency in the CEI are migration issues, combating human trafficking and terrorism, including in cyberspace. And today the participants of the summit prepared a detailed plan of action for the coming three years.
The CEI management highly appreciated the work done by Belarus. International experts supported many Belarusian initiatives and count on continuing active cooperation on new joint projects.
Belarus will continue to strengthen its position on the world stage. In autumn 2018, Belarus will host a large-scale conference of the UN and OSCE. The CEI leadership is invited there as well.
