Belarus and the Netherlands have agreed to continue an active political dialogue, as stated by Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei at the opening ceremony of an office of the Dutch Embassy in Minsk. Vladimir Makei stressed that the Netherlands is one of the top ten trade, economic and investment partners for Belarus. Also, about a hundred enterprises with the participation of Dutch capital work in Belarus.
Vladimir Makei, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus:
"Today we discussed our future political dialogue, as well as our trade and economic dialogue. Unfortunately, in recent years, the trade turnover decreased by 3.5-4 times due to various circumstances, but we intend to address these issues in order to reach the previous level of our trade and economic cooperation."
Johanna Brandt, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, in her turn, noted that the opening of the Embassy’s office is taking place on the 25th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries. And throughout this time, the countries maintained constructive cooperation.
Johanna Brandt, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands:
"Our bilateral cooperation is very actively promoted, in part because the Netherlands is a member state of the European Union, and Belarus has borders with the EU. I hope that we will continue to cooperate proactively – not only at the level of ministries, but also between businesses, and between sports teams."
Now there are more than 60 accredited diplomatic missions, consular offices and international structures in Belarus. According to Vladimir Makei, this number will soon increase. Thus, several more countries have already announced their readiness to open embassies in Belarus. Some European countries are ready to follow the example of the Netherlands, too.












