Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who previously could not make visits to EU countries due to sanctions, will be invited to the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Germany in February 2019, German diplomat and MSC Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger said on Thursday
MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st November, 2018) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who previously could not make visits to EU countries due to sanctions, will be invited to the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Germany in February 2019, German diplomat and MSC Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger said on Thursday.
Belarus has been under Western political and economic sanctions for almost 20 years over accusations of human rights violations in the country. Relations between Belarus and the West have improved recently amid the role of Minsk in the Ukraine conflict settlement. The European Union has lifted almost all sanctions placed on Belarus, including personal sanctions against Lukashenko, but some restrictive measures remain in place.
"Of course!" Ischinger told reporters in Minsk when asked whether Lukashenko was invited to the next MSC.
The diplomat drew attention to the fact that many European leaders took part in the Munich conference.
"I will be happy to receive President Lukashenko at the conference when he wants to take part in it, whether it will be in 2019 or 2020," Ischinger said.
The chairman of the conference also admitted that he was impressed by Lukashenko's commitment to resolving the conflict in Ukraine.
"I hope that the international community will listen to these interesting proposals that he [Lukashenko] has put forward," he said.
On Wednesday, the Belarusian president took part in the Munich Security Conference Core Group meeting in Minsk and said that it would be reasonable to consider the option of sending a joint UN-OSCE peacekeeping mission to Ukraine's war-torn Donbas.
The armed conflict in the region began in 2014, when Kiev launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, which refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new government that came to power after the overthrow of then President Viktor Yanukovych.
In an attempt to cease hostilities, the sides signed a peace agreement in 2015, but both Kiev and Donbas continue to accuse each other of truce violations.
