VALLETTA /Malta/, December 5. /TASS/. Bratislava and Budapest are intrigued by Russia’s idea to develop a new Eurasian security framework, which it presented at the international conference in Minsk, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a press conference.
The foreign minister pointed out that the 2nd International conference on Eurasian security took place in Minsk recently, after which Russia and Belarus called for developing the Eurasian Charter of diversity and multipolarity in the 21st century.
"We have disseminated elements of this charter to the countries that are part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union, the CSTO, the CIS, sent them to ASEAN members and we will promote this idea when talking with any other countries, including those European countries that are interested in joining this discussion," Lavrov said. "The conference in Minsk was attended by Foreign Minister of Hungary [Peter Szijajrto], Slovakia displays its interest as well. I believe that other countries will see a direct benefit from this in terms of promoting their long-term interests and satisfying the needs of their people."
He also underscored that, to the West’s displeasure, the process of building a new architecture of security in Eurasia has already started, and Russia stated as much during the CSTO Ministerial Council meeting.
"We have honestly highlighted this situation today and underscored one very important thing: regardless of whether the West wants it or not, the process of building a new architecture of security is moving forward full steam, and is already based not on the Euro-Atlantic concept, but on the understanding that the single Eurasian continent currently provides opportunities for everyone to equally safeguard everyone’s interests and build the very indivisible security, which was proclaimed in the OSCE, but was destroyed by the actions of the West. First and foremost, thanks to NATO's reckless eastward expansion," he pointed out.
The minister added that the Eurasian concept is based on the natural geographic and economic infrastructure capabilities available to all countries of the continent. Lavrov noted that Russia expects to unite all these capabilities in promoting the common agenda, which will satisfy all countries.