The Minsk Dialogue was launched as a Track-II initiative focused on international affairs and security in Eastern Europe in early 2015. Its first international conference titled The EU, Russia and the Shared Neighbourhood: Bridging the divide took place in March 2015.

The mission of the Minsk Dialogue is to offer an open and geopolitically unbiased platform for research and discussion on international affairs and security in Eastern Europe. Regular Minsk Dialogue events gather international experts, as well as high-level officials and diplomats.

The Minsk Dialogue’s team and its expert network produce analytical reports, policy papers, commentaries, backgrounders, and conference non-papers, which are widely distributed among the relevant international stakeholders. 

In May 2018, the inaugural Minsk Dialogue Forum gathered over 500 participants from 59 countries. The Forum’s title – Eastern Europe: In search of security for all – has now become the Minsk Dialogue’s motto.

On 26 April 2019, a new chapter in the life of the organisation began when it got legally registered as the Minsk Dialogue Council on International Relations.

In its work the Minsk Dialogue pursues the following main goals:

• To promote greater security in Eastern Europe.
• To help Belarus to advance its sovereign interests in the system of international relations.
• To enhance the potential of the Belarusian expert and academic communities in the fields of international relations and security.

Within the structure of the Minsk Dialogue, the Advisory Council has been created which assists the organisation in its strategic development and in establishing itself as an authoritative voice in international expert and diplomatic communities. And the members of the Expert Council participate actively in implementing the organisation’s research agenda. The Advisory and Expert Councils include reputable Belarusian and foreign academics, experts, and diplomats.