A large turnover of personnel is planned among Belarusian diplomats abroad. This was announced today, November 4, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Maxim Ryzhenkov, following a report to Alexander Lukashenko on some issues related to the staffing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs system.
“We are planning a fairly large staff day in relation to diplomatic corps appointments abroad. “Not because there is some kind of emergency situation, someone will say elections… No. Because some time ago the rotation process was overlooked and today we are forced to immediately prepare a significant number of people for appointments,” – said.
In this sense, he recalled that many countries adhere to the principle of rotation in diplomatic practice. Firstly, to prevent diplomats from falling under the influence of the host country.
“Every person living in a certain country is exposed to a powerful informational influence and is naturally imbued with some ideas, interests, expectations… It is very important not to cloud your vision: this is the time. And secondly, so that we do not begin to look at bilateral relations with the eyes of that party and not with ours. Even with friendly countries this is not very good, because they come to build bridges, but I would like there to be more movement on their part.” – Ryzhenkov emphasized.
At the same time, the Minister emphasized that he was not personally creating a team in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“I will not say that four months in office led me to the conclusion that it is necessary to change something radically and very radically. But rotation has always been one of the basic principles of the diplomatic service. This applies not only to our State, but also to the entire world.” – said.
As the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus noted, now the time has come for some ambassadors to return to their homeland. And not because they have done a bad job, but because “enough time has passed, they have proven themselves and now is the time to gain new experiences and knowledge, broaden their horizons and apply the skills acquired here in Belarus.” At the same time, the minister did not mention specific names or destination countries for one reason only.
“The appointment procedure for diplomatic positions at this level is always accompanied by a series of special sanctions, first of all, the receipt of an agreement from the host country. In other words, saying that we will appoint someone before we have seen the response from the receiving country that it is willing to consider that person as our ambassador is premature.” – noted Ryzhenkov.
According to him, at the meeting with the Head of State, specific candidates were discussed, each of them was considered from the point of view of their professional qualities. Ryzhenkov said that the president “was interested in all aspects, because his attitude towards people is very reverent: behind all this reasoning you cannot lose competent specialists or create some kind of complex in someone.” He clarified that the proposed candidates were also discussed from the point of view of patriotic attitudes.
“Because today the issues of devotion to the country, to the people, come first. This is an important factor. Therefore, from this point of view, they also looked at the candidates from a certain angle,” he emphasized.
In addition, Ryzhenkov said that the conversation at the level of the head of state went far beyond the scope of staffing in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Issues of the international agenda, the organization of future meetings and events with the participation of the President of Belarus, the country’s relations with the CIS and non-CIS States, the development of trade and economic cooperation, the reorientation of export flows and the creation of conditions for industrial cooperation was also addressed. According to him, the event was not limited to the personnel format, but became a “mini-report” by the head of the Foreign Ministry on the current situation of foreign trade based on the results of four months of work in this position. .
