Belarus and Russia to fence off attempts to interfere with their interior affairs

On his working visit to Moscow, Belarusian foreign minister Sergei Martynov held a face-to-face meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. The parties discussed the Belarusian-Russian cooperation and interaction in the international arena, the Belarusian foreign ministry told BelTA. On February 27 at a joint collegium of the foreign ministries of Belarus and Russia chaired by Sergei Martynov and Sergei Lavrov, the sides have highlighted that bearing in mind diversity of progressive ways for human development and in recognition of every nation’s right for self-determination in social and economic spheres and following the principles of the UN Charter, Belarus and Russia have decided to jointly ward off attempts to interfere with their interior affairs, come the attempts from other states or international organizations including attempts hidden under the veneer of human rights issues. The Belarusian delegation has expressed gratitude to the leadership of the Russian Federation for support in parrying unfriendly actions of the West aimed against Belarus. The parties have reached an agreement to continue intensive interaction at different levels focusing on the issues of European security. The foreign ministries will keep taking coordinated measures to reform OSCE. The members of the sitting have emphasized that in support of the joint statement of the presidents of Belarus and Russia made in January 2006 on mutual understanding in regard to the WTO-accession issues, the Belarusian and Russian delegations will abide by coordinated approaches at the WTO-accession negotiations. The sitting has adopted a program of the Union State coordinated efforts in foreign policy for 2006-2007. The document envisages measures to strengthen relations between Belarus and Russia, to secure and promote interests of both the states in the international arena and ensure a wholesome environment to bring about sustainable socio-economic development of the two countries. The parties have also adopted the schedule of consultations between the Belarusian and Russian foreign ministries for 2006.