The Belarusian delegation, composed of several members of parliament, will meet with members of the Switzerland-Belarus Parliamentary Friendship Group and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA). Mr Andreichenko will also pay a courtesy visit to the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), Ignazio Cassis.
Since 2010, there has been an increase in economic exchanges between Switzerland and Belarus: around 30 Swiss countries are currently represented in Belarus. The volume of bilateral trade with Switzerland reached CHF 124 million in 2016. The Belarus delegation will also attend an official meeting with the State Secretary Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch, the director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
Switzerland and Belarus also actively support the OSCE’s efforts to find a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine. In particular, the Republic of Belarus played a key role in the mediation between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union (EU). This led to the Minsk agreements in September 2014, with the aim of achieving a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.
Switzerland and the Republic of Belarus have had diplomatic relations since 1992. In July 2007, Switzerland opened an embassy office in Minsk, which is attached to the Swiss Embassy in Warsaw.