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Framework agreement between Belarus, European Commission signed in Minsk

Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Kabyakow and Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira, head of the European Commission’s Kyiv-based Delegation to Ukraine and Belarus, on December 18 signed a framework agreement between the Commission and Belarus, which provides a legal basis for carrying out EU projects in the country.

Belarus is interested in the liberalization of trade with the European Union, and in full-scale and pragmatic cooperation with the bloc “with an emphasis on the economic component,” Mr. Kabyakow said at the meeting, according to government news agency BelTA.

He noted that in December 2006, Belarus was deprived of its trade benefits under the EU’s Generalized System of Preferences. He also suggested creating a legal basis for Belarus-EU relations and, in particular, signing a new partnership and cooperation agreement and interim trade agreement. Such agreements were signed long ago but never came into force and therefore need adjustment, he said.

Mr. Kabyakow reportedly noted that the EU’s October decision to suspend travel sanctions against Belarusian officials for six months laid down a foundation for resuming a full-scale political dialogue and helped improve Belarus-EU relations. However, he said, Minsk regards that decision as an intermediary step and expects the EU to take additional steps and the sanctions to be abolished altogether in April 2009.

Also on December 18, Mr. Teixeira presented a copy of his credentials to Belarusian Foreign Minister Syarhey Martynaw.