Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Ihar Sakreta spoke on June 17 at a plenary session of the OSCE Annual Security Review Conference in Vienna.
In his address, the diplomat called for the restoration of military contacts and communications. According to him, their suspension has sharply increased the risk of “mistakes, dangerous incidents” and misperceptions. He urged a return to transparency mechanisms at any acceptable level, including tactical interaction in border areas.
“It is necessary to restore military contacts and communications. Their suspension has sharply increased the risk of mistakes, dangerous incidents, misperceptions and false conclusions. We need to return to transparency mechanisms and contacts at any acceptable level, including tactical interaction in border areas. We must convince one another that no one intends to attack anyone else. We must relearn how to hear one another. The principle of equal and indivisible security must be more than just a slogan. It must rest on a reliable operational foundation, and it is the creation of such a foundation that our efforts within the OSCE should be directed toward,” he said.
Sakreta called for a professional dialogue without preconditions, saying that the alternative to dialogue would be “total conflict.”
“Our peoples do not need new theaters of military operations or new front lines. Our peoples need security, development and a normal life. We do not intend to fight our neighbors. We do not need other people’s territories. We do not need conflicts. Belarus does not want war. The last war rolled across my homeland like a terrible and bloody steamroller. Belarusians reject war like no other people because they know the value of peace firsthand. We want to cooperate. We want to build roads, enterprises and logistics routes. We want to see predictable and prosperous neighbors around us,” the Belarusian Foreign Ministry press service quoted him as saying.