Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus V.Makei at the 30th special session of the United Nations General Assembly (April 20, 2016, New York)

The famous Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, a recognised expert on the state of human soul, once said, «Nothing is easier than to denounce the evil doer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him».

Undoubtedly, Belarus does more in combating drug trafficking than simply denouncing this evil.

In view of the increasing interdependence of the global processes, the adoption of the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action marked a transition to a more coordinated strategic approach to countering the world drug problem.

Belarus welcomes the activities of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Narcotics Control Board, aimed at strengthening international cooperation in this area.

For its part, Belarus is a party to all three anti-drug conventions and is fully committed to the principles of the 2009 Political Declaration.

Belarus has created a strong national institutional framework for an uncompromising struggle against illicit drug and psychotropic substances trafficking.

In the past few years, Belarus adopted additional measures that allow competent authorities to prohibit promptly the circulation of new narcotics, mainly psychotropic substances.

However, no matter how effective state measures are, it is a total rejection of drugs by a society that can become a serious barrier to the spread of drugs. In this regard, it is vital to formulate the respective ideology. Therefore, in the war on drugs Belarus proceeds from the necessity of supporting the family as a basic social institution, which plays a crucial role in the upbringing and education of children and youth.

Despite some progress in combating drug trafficking at the global level, unfortunately, it is still impossible to solve this problem, only to restrain it.

The illicit drug trafficking is closely linked to other transnational crimes – terrorism, human trafficking, money laundering. Therefore, success in the global fight against any of these crimes depends on the overall progress in responding to all of these challenges together.

The UN system and UN Member States have a new global coordination mechanism instrument for solving this difficult problem which is called “the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

A worrying trend of recent years is associated with the rapid emergence of new psychoactive substances. These substances are not prohibited by treaties, but have as strong and harmful effect as “traditional” drugs.

Australia, Belarus and the United States initiated a new comprehensive resolution on this issue that was adopted at the 59th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs. The implementation of this resolution will help to find effective ways of neutralizing the threats posed by new psychoactive substances.

I hope that his meeting will give a new impetus to further efforts in countering the world drug problem.