Mureille Musso: “I will advertise Belarus”

On July 14, France celebrates the Bastille Day. On this day in 1789 the French revolutionaries stormed the Bastille, a prison in the center of Paris which for centuries symbolized the arbitrariness of the king. Although only 7 inmates were held on the day of the attack, the fact became a significant event in France’s history.

On France’s National Day, the French Ambassador in Minsk Mureille Musso responds to questions from the Belarusian media.

Belarus’s plans to build a nuclear power plant still grab a lot of media attention. In December 2006, the Belarusian scientists visited France as part of the tour to pick a country that would help us build a station. Mrs Musso noted that building a nuclear power plant is a very long process and that the French specialists could share their expertise as regards nuclear safety.

“I am talking not just about obtaining technical knowledge necessary for the construction of such an object, because Belarus is experienced enough in this issue. Belarus needs to learn the maintenance and safety aspects, because one thing is to have a knowledge of technical aspects, and the other thing is how to build such an object,” she said.

After EU abolished trade preferences for Belarus, this country lost 10 percent when selling our goods in Europe. According to Mureille Musso, this happened because the Belarusian government failed to meet the requirements of the International Labor Organization to which Belarus is a party.

“The abolishment of preferences was no doubt connected with Belarus’s failure to meet obligations which Belarus signed when entering the International Labor Organization,” Ambassador said.

Last year, the European Union issued a list of conditions Belarus has to fulfill if it wants to improve cooperation with Europe. In the view of Ambassador Musso, Belarus should be connected with Europe’s democratic achievements because it is a part of Europe.

“These democratic principles are the essence of Europe. In our view, Belarus must always be connected with these European values, because if is a part of Europe. I hope that Europe and Belarus will stick together to these principles while moving forward,” she said.

Promotion of Belarus is the major task for Belarus on its way of integration into Europe.

“It is very important for the Belarusian embassies in Europe and for the European nations through their envoys who visited your country to tell about Belarus and promote it. From my side, I can guarantee that I will personally advertise Belarus and attract Europeans to your country,” Ambassador Musso stressed.