Belarus due to enter SCO in summer 2024 - secretary general

MINSK. Oct 25 (Interfax) - Belarus is due to enter the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) next summer, SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming said.

"We are expecting Minsk to become the tenth full member of the organization as early as at the Astana summit next year," Zhang said in an interview with the state-run channel Belarus 1.

"Minsk is already participating in the activity of certain mechanisms of the organization, it is on the path to full membership, and the process has been successful," he said.

"Consistent with the procedure for admission of new members, the ratification of the indicated document by the Republic of Belarus should be the next step. After this, the applicant will join the Charter, the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism of June 15, 2001, and some other international agreements and documents adopted by the SCO," Zhang said.

The next SCO summit will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, in July 2024.