Minsk Hosts 2nd International Conference on Eurasian Security

On 31 October – 1 November 2024, Minsk hosted the 2nd International Conference on Eurasian Security. When opening the event, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko shared assessments of the current geopolitical situation and discussed his country’s approaches towards facilitating Eurasian security, including efforts to counter contemporary challenges and threats.

SCO Deputy Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev took part in the event at the invitation of the Government of the Republic of Belarus. In his remarks, he listed the SCO’s high-priority activities and quoted a passage from the Astana Declaration of SCO Heads of State (July 2024), noting that intra-SCO collaboration could serve as a foundation for forging the system of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia.

The SCO Deputy Secretary-General noted that regionalisation, rather than globalisation, is now topping the agenda. He added that the role of regional and trans-regional associations and their ability to influence the resolution of numerous issues are becoming increasingly relevant. The SCO calls for forging a world order based on generally recognised principles of international law, cultural and civilisational diversity, and mutually beneficial and equitable cooperation, with the UN playing a central coordinating role.

Nurlan Yermekbayev held multiple working meetings on the sidelines of the conference and spoke to journalists who represent local media outlets.

Attending the event were 600 delegates from 45 countries, including a Serbian deputy prime minister, foreign ministers of Belarus, Hungary, Russia and Syria, top officials of executive agencies of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), as well as representatives of expert and academic circles. In all, 150 journalists covered the work of the conference.