Belarus speaks against 'unacceptable passages' in Riga declaration

Belarus supported the declaration of the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, but with certain reservations. It is what the minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Uladzimir Makey, told reporters at the end of the official part of the summit.

Mr Makey: "The main thing in the current situation is to not make a strong statement against someone and try to solve the problems that are relevant to our continent: to ensure peace, stability and security in the region. And first of all - to solve the Ukraine crisis. Thus we initially were opposed to such confrontational statements and advocated that the language focused on the further development of the Eastern Partnership initiative, which could contribute to the development of our member countries. Therefore, the final version of the Declaration was not acceptable to us, and we are taking into account the fact that it contained a number of important points for Belarus, we on the whole supported it, but we made an accurate statement regarding the passage unacceptable for us in this declaration."

As it became known earlier, Belarus and Armenia were against the wording, which condemned the annexation of Crimea. According to the Minister Makey, there was no pressure on Belarus by Russia with a demand not to accept this wording in the declaration of the summit.