In the wake of Belarus’s participation in the EU Ministerial held in Brussels on 22 July to discus, inter alia, the Eastern Partnership, Deputy Minister Marta Dassù has met her Belarusian counterpart, Alena Kupchyna, in Rome. Deputy Minister Kupchyna’s visit to Rome comes at the end of a mission to several other European capitals.
Their discussion touched on the dossiers that could enable dialogue between Rome and Minsk to gradually resume, without prejudice to the Italian position on the release of political prisoners and the moratorium on the death penalty. Two points which Deputy Minister Dassù firmly reiterated.
Turning to bilateral economic relations, agreement was reached on a possible Italian trade mission to Belarus.
International adoptions, which have been blocked by Minsk, were also on the agenda. Deputy Minister Dassù urged her colleague to raise the issue with her country’s political leadership with a view to their tackling the issue pragmatically, in light of the existing relationship in this sector between Italy and Belarus.
