Expert explained how political pressure on Belarus affects the lives of countries on African continent

The absurd sanctions of Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia to limit Belarus’ access to port infrastructure constitutes in itself a violation of conventional UN rules, in particular the convention on access to the sea. They led to the fact that the share of Belarusian potash fertilisers on the world market decreased significantly, and these actions affected Africa – as noted by Minister-Counselor of the Belarusian embassy in Russia Aleksandr Shpakovsky in his talk with Alfa Radio.

According to the expert, Belarus often uses the UN as a platform to convey its position to the whole world.

“A number of programmatic points were apparent in the speeches of the Belarusian side: the peacekeeping nature of the Belarusian foreign policy, the focus on resolving conflicts exclusively by political and diplomatic methods, the relevant proposals for the whole world from the point of view of building a just multipolar world order, where sovereign states will have the opportunity for development, and not unfair competition and pressure are imposed under the guise of spreading certain values and democracy in quotes. That is, all this is an element of Belarusian foreign policy; relatively speaking, this can be called ‘good diplomacy’. Belarus is known for its position throughout the world. In this case, it is necessary to underline a number of points that are important not only for the national interests of our country – since we are fighting for our legitimate national interests – but will also have significance for global security, primarily in the food sector.”

Aleksandr Shpakovsky noted the absurd actions of Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia to limit Belarus’ access to port infrastructure, “This in itself constitutes a violation of the conventional rules of the UN, particularly, the norms of the convention on access to the sea. All this has led to the fact that the share of Belarusian potash fertilisers on the world market has decreased significantly, at least according to the results of last year. Yes, we remain among the major exporters, but nevertheless, these sanctions have a negative impact on us, and not only on us, they affect our partners. After all, we sell this potassium to regions that are in dire need of this kind of product. It decreased on the world market in general and on the African continent in particular. The drop there is generally colossal. This fall and the exclusion of Belarus from the list of world potash exporters to the African market ultimately means that last year the grain harvest in Africa decreased by more than 17 percent. We know that from the point of view of the problems of global hunger, the situation in the African continent seems to be the most dangerous. That is, we understand that those who are trying to exert political pressure on Belarus through the economy are actually putting pressure on the lives and health of people on the African continent. They are essentially victims of the geopolitical ambitions of the powerful, who are trying to force sovereign countries, including Belarus, to carry out their will. We say that they won’t succeed because we will go our own way. It must be said that our ancestors fought back against the Nazi invaders. We didn’t bow to at that time, and certainly won’t do this now. In this regard, it was simply necessary to remind the whole world and make it clear who is to blame for the problems of global hunger and how connected the Belarusian issue is to this. Absurd sanctions are, in fact, a game with the lives of millions of people, but as the President of Colombia correctly put it, this anti-colonial message was very noticeable. But in fact, all these moral and political assessments are indifferent to those players who initiate similar processes on the planet. At the forefront is the consideration of profit, the task of subordinating people to their will and forcing them to act not in their own interests, but in the interests of the global elite. However, I note that now the voice of those who demand a just world order is heard more and more. I will not tire of repeating the phrase of Aleksandr Lukashenko, who said that the world is tired of the American stranglehold, and we will still see another just world, it is possible.”