Belarussian foreign policy

Our foreign policy seeks to encourage domestic sustainable development, i.e. to build up such international relations that would bring larger benefits for our economic growth and prosperity. Our key priority is our neighbours.

Russia. A major trade and economic partner for Belarus, Russia remains our major strategic ally. Belarus and Russia continue to intensify cooperation both bilaterally and multilaterally.

Commonwealth of Independent States. Created to re-integrate post-Soviet nations, the CIS is an essential part of our foreign policy. Belarus wants to see stronger CIS with more political, economic and cultural integration of all post-Soviet nations. Our trade with nations of the former Soviet Union continues to be increasingly high.

European Union. EU is naturally a crucial part of our foreign policy. Belarus and EU have many issues to deal with jointly. These are energy and mineral resources transit and supply, crime, environment, as well as regional and cultural partnership.

Our trade with the EU continues to grow with Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, UK, Netherlands, Italy, France and Belgium as our major export markets.

United States. Belarus and the United States have both a good experience of cooperation before and good prospects to intensify it. Belarus invites the US to develop relations in all areas of common interest based on mutual respect.

Asia. Well-established political links with China, India, Vietnam and other countries in South-East Asia introduce a good platform to scale up our mutual trade. China is our special foreign partner.

Latin America. Relations with Latin American countries have acquired much higher level in recent years with most active Belarus-Venezuela cooperation. Larger political dialogue with major countries in the region, Argentina and Brazil, increasingly stimulates our economic cooperation. Traditionally, Belarus has advanced relations with Cuba.

With deeper relations with countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America, Belarus has turned up to a new much higher level of cooperation with the South.

The constitution of the republic of belarus

The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus was adopted on March 15, 1994. The Constitution was designed on the basis of the constitutions of many European countries. It has much in common with the Constitution of France both in contents and structure. In 1996 the Constitution was amended. The amendments were approved by 70 per cent of the citizens who participated in the referendum. The amendments broadened considerably the powers of the President, promoting him or her from the head of the executive power to the head of the State.

Structurally, the Constitution consists of 9 sections, 8 chapters and 146 articles.

Under the Constitution the Republic of Belarus is a unitary democratic social (welfare) legal state. The Republic of Belarus possesses supreme and absolute power on its territory; it independently exercises its home and foreign policy. The principle of the supremacy of law is established in the country. The State, all its bodies and officials act within the Constitution and laws adopted according to it. The Republic of Belarus recognises the priority of universally recognised principles of international law and provides the correspondence of the national law to these principles. Under the Constitution all religions and denominations are equal to the law. There are two official languages in the country: Russian and Belarusian. The capital city of the country is Minsk. The status of the capital city is determined by law. The citizens of the Republic aged 18 and above enjoy the right to elect and to be elected to governmental bodies on the basis of general, equal, direct or indirect electoral right by secret ballot.