By Alexey Adashkin: On Friday, the 5th Eastern Partnership Summit was held in Brussels. Representatives of six post-Soviet countries discussed cooperation with the European Union.
These days, Brussels often stresses that Belarus is the only of the six countries of the Eastern Partnership where there are no conflicts in its territory. Security today is extremely valuable.
Pol Van Den Driessche, the Senator of the Belgian Parliament: "For Europe in general and for Belgium in particular, Belarus is a very important country. It occupies a strategic geopolitical position between the west and the east. And we clearly see the role that Belarus plays in establishing a dialogue between the two centers of power on the continent."
For Belarus, the European Union is the second most important foreign economic partner. Better political dialogue can help improve the mutual trade, too. As of the first nine months of 2017, Belarus’ exports to the EU almost reached the figures for the entire year 2016.
The official Minsk does not hide that its interest in the Eastern Partnership is purely pragmatic. At the summit in Brussels, for example, an agreement was signed that includes Belarus in the European transport system. This will help attract the EU finances for the development of roads in Belarus.
Also, Belarus is ready to cooperate with the EU in matters of energy, transport, green economy, tourism, and culture. In 2009, for example, the initiative of EU4Business was launched, and with the help of these loans Belarusian businesses are growing. Belarus is currently implementing projects worth 20 million dollars.
For Belarus today, the main issue is the signing of a basic agreement on partnership and cooperation with the EU. After all, Minsk and Brussels are still working on the basis of long-obsolete documents. And this obstacle in relations can be eliminated quickly enough.
