Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko held talks with the Commonwealth Foreign ministers on the sideline of the CIS Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Minsk on April 6, 2018.

In his address Alexander Lukashenko noted that Tajikistan is presiding in the CIS in 2018 and Belarus agrees on the tasks presented in the presidency program and will ensure its full participation in its implementation. “I hope this year will be marked by positive initiatives that will soon be implemented. The fight against international terrorism and extremism has been recently the priority of our cooperation,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

In his words, five years ago, during Belarus’ presidency in the CIS, a regional meeting was organized jointly with the CIS Executive Committee, the UN and the OSCE to take stock of the progress in the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. “This year Belarus plans to hold a similar event aimed at deepening coordination between the CIS and other international structures to prevent such weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists,” the Belarusian leader said.

The President believes that the CIS needs true and open cooperation between law enforcement agencies. The defense ministries need to develop a joint air and space defense system in the CIS by 2025, and the interior ministries are tasked with completing the development and start the implementation of the Interstate Action Plan to Combat Crime for 2019-2023.

“A special focus should be on cross-border crime,” the head of state said.

The CIS Anti-Terrorism Center needs to implement an integrated approach to counter terrorism and extremism using the entire set of measures.

«The CIS financial watchdogs should join the fight against terrorism financing. To complete this work we also need cooperation between the diplomats of our countries and to develop a global strategy based on international law and under the auspices of the UN to counteract new challenges and threats,” the Belarusian leader said.