On Thursday 31 May, the European External Action Service (EEAS) announced the EU would launch its first communication campaign in Belarus.
"The EU is launching a first country-wide communication campaign focusing on the benefits of EU-Belarus cooperation for the Belarusian people and highlighting concrete results of EU-funded projects in the fields of economic growth, energy efficiency and health", the EEAS announced in a press release, following a meeting in Brussels between High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Belarus' Foreign Affairs Minister Vladimir Makei.
Mogherini and Makei agreed to speed up the swift finalisation of negotiations on new priorities for the tailor-made partnership between the EU and Belarus "which would be an important building block for bilateral relations, including on financial assistance", according to the EEAS. Mogherini reiterated that the measures taken by Minsk concerning the respect of universal human rights, including on the death penalty, were "key for shaping future relations". The EU is to continue working with all stakeholders for the achievement of a stable, democratic and prosperous Belarus, Mogherini promised.
Mogherini and Makei also discussed "the need for full transparency and cooperation on nuclear safety issues", particularly on the new nuclear power plant under construction in Ostrovets. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)