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Minsk Forum XII begins at Johannes Rau International Educational Center

Minsk Forum XII began at the Johannes Rau International Educational Center on Wednesday evening.

The benefits of Belarus’ involvement in the Eastern Partnership program top the agenda of the three-day event.

Speeches were delivered during the opening meeting by German political expert Reiner Lindner, chairman of the forum, Uladzimir Makey, head of the Presidential Administration, German Ambassador Gebhardt Weiss and Klaus Mangold, chairman of Germany's Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations.

A subsequent discussion featured Dr. Mangold, Stefan Eriksson, the ambassador of Sweden, which currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency, Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Varanetski, Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Evaldas Ignatavichus and Yaraslaw Ramanchuk, head of the Ludwig von Mises think tank in Belarus.

Scheduled for November 5 are section discussions on the themes, "Foreign Policy: Belarus as a Neighbor in Europe," "Economy: New Economic Policy Tasks," "Society: New Forms of Cooperation between the State and Society."

Attending the forum are members of the European Parliament and Germany's Bundestag, Belarusian, German, Lithuanian, Polish and Finnish government officials, independent political analysts and correspondents of non-state media outlets.

The results of Minsk Forum XII will be discussed at a plenary meeting on November 6. //BelaPAN