The EU-Belarus Coordination Group held its first meeting in Brussels on April 6 and 7, Dzmitry Mironchyk, spokesman for the Belarusian foreign ministry, told reporters in Minsk on Thursday.
"This is a new format of structured, all-around dialogue between the Republic of Belarus and the European Union," he said.
Belarus was represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Alena Kupchyna, while the EU delegation was led by Helga Schmid, deputy secretary general at the European External Action Service.
The talks focused on the current state of relations between Belarus and the EU and their development prospects, the participation of Belarus in the Eastern Partnership program, ways to step up "dialogues" on economy, finance and environmental protection, and the launch of "new bilateral dialogues on the subjects of trade, energy, customs, innovation and standardization, cooperation in the sphere of modernization and technical assistance, as well as the subject of human rights," said Mr. Mironchyk.
While in Brussels, Ms. Kupchyna also met with representatives of a number of EU institutions, in particular the European External Action Service and the office of the European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.
