MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Belarus’ foreign policy course will not be changed after the death of Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, regardless of who takes his office, Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries, told TASS on Sunday.
The expert recalled that Makei "once used to be a kind of a leader of the pro-Western faction in [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko’s team."
"After Lukashenko decided to establish closer relations with Russia and quite tough sanctions were imposed on Belarus in response, Makei ceased to perform that role. As a matter of fact, he was pursuing a policy that was dictated by Lukashenko. So, I don’t think that there will be any cardinal changes in Belarus’ policy to other countries," he said.
When asked whether it means that relations with Russia will stay as they are, regardless of who becomes the new top diplomat, Zharikhin said, "Yes, naturally."
Vladimir Makei died on Saturday at the age of 64.
Makei was born in the Grodno Region on August 5, 1958. He graduated from the Minsk State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages. He worked at the Council of Europe and headed the European Cooperation Department of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. In 2000-2008 he was an aide to the Belarusian president. He was appointed foreign minister in August 2012.