Belarusian Embassy in Estonia to open in autumn

MINSK, 7 July (BelTA) – The Belarusian embassy in the Republic of Estonia is scheduled to open in September and the Estonian diplomatic mission in Minsk will be inaugurated in autumn too, Vladimir Velman, the head of the Estonian parliamentary group for relations with Belarus, said when speaking in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus. The Estonian guests are now in Minsk on an official visit.

The Belarusian-Estonian relations have started improving. “We observe a warming in bilateral contacts, which is a logical continuation of general European trends, which Belarus got involved into,” Vladimir Velman said.

The Estonian guest noted that “the Parliament of Estonia is open to any dialogue”. The State Assembly of Estonia set up a group of friendship with the National Assembly of Belarus this winter. According to Vladimir Velman, there is a mutual interest in strengthening the cooperation. “It is high time we developed the official inter-parliamentary relations in order to change them into informal contacts in the future,” said the Estonian politician.

Inter-parliamentary relations have a positive influence on economic cooperation between the two countries and promote a certain level of trust, said Sergei Maskevich, the Chairman of the Permanent Commission for International Affairs and Ties with CIS of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus. “There are many companies in Belarus with the Estonian capital today. But big opportunities in this field still remain untapped,” said Sergei Maskevich.

Estonia has made a number of specific steps, which has created a background for intensifying the political dialogue. The Foreign Minister of Estonia is scheduled to visit Minsk this autumn.