The prospects of Belarus' diplomatic presence in a number of countries are very dim, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the meeting to discuss optimization of Belarusian diplomatic missions on 6 April, BelTA has learned.

“It is important that the diplomatic service will not turn into an rigid structure employing theorists that have lost touch with reality. Our long-term experience shows that the Belarusian diplomatic presence has no prospects in a number of countries. So why should we keep our embassies, spend budget funds to maintain them? Why do we need the personnel in charge of areas that have been put on hold, to put it mildly? In such cases, we should follow the principle of reciprocity in our work, as has recently been done in respect to Poland and Lithuania,” the president said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that as a last resort, all issues can be dealt with at the UN, other international organizations in New York, Geneva or Vienna. “It will give us an opportunity to speak to the whole world. Thus, there is no need to keep political advisers in the countries that have frozen contacts with us due to their prejudices or countries that are carrying out destructive activities against us,” he said.

The president recalled that Belarus has well-functioning distribution networks in a number of countries. In this regard, he asked whether it makes sense to keep trade representatives in the embassies who do the same work. “Maybe it will be more efficient to transfer the personnel to the workplaces where they will really be useful?” the Belarusian leader said.

“I would like to reiterate that new diplomatic missions abroad should be opened solely through the smart redistribution of available resources. There should be no inflating of the staff,” the head of state emphasized.

BELTA