MINSK, December 20. /TASS/. Belarus will reduce its diplomatic presence in Western European countries and will expand it in CIS countries, China, and countries of the so-called remote arc, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makey said on Monday.
"We are dramatically reducing our diplomatic presence in European countries. I don’t mean to say that we are reducing our embassies and diplomatic missions. We are cutting diplomatic personnel," BelTA agency quoted him as saying.
According to the Belarusian top diplomat, the ministry will "shift diplomats to other sections of work, where they will be needed." "These are the CIS countries - we are expanding a number of embassies, and countries of the remote arc (Asian, Oceanian, African, and Latin American countries - TASS)," he said, adding that Belarus’ diplomatic presence will be expanded in those countries that are its major strategic partners, for instance, India and China. "We are looking at opening new embassies in Africa, in solvent countries where our products are in demand," he said.
Touching on restructuring plans, Makey noted that the situation at Belarus’ borders "is radically changing, the world is changing, with many new challenges emerging." "Serious sanction pressure is being exerted on Belarus and it also influences the activities of the foreign ministry and diplomatic missions. We see that, regrettably, the cooperation between our diplomatic missions and foreign ministries in the countries where they are accredited has shrunk. It applies first of all to Western Europe. At the same time, there is a need to enhance our activities in other flanks," he said.