Meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vuciс

It is needed to join efforts and cooperate to survive and develop in the modern complicated and sometimes unpredictable conditions, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on 27 January.

Belarus has never stopped cooperation with Serbia and is not going to do it in the future, the head of state stressed. “We see in what way the world is developing today: there are very dangerous and unpredictable processes. Of course, we do not exaggerate them,” the President noted.

The main trend persists – the world becomes more and more globalized, processes in the economy also become more globalized. “We cannot but promote our cooperation to survive and develop in this turbulent world for the benefit of our states and nations,” Aleksandr Lukashenko is convinced.

Belarus and Serbia have a long history of relations development. At the same time, the President noted that Belarus and Serbia are in different situations today in spite of the common trend. “In any case, we will not lay claims to Serbia if it develops in its own way because, perhaps, we are also responsible for the fact that Serbia is in such a situation. After the collapse of the Soviet Union we had to focus on building closer relations,” the head of state said. He emphasized that it is needed to build and support bilateral relations.

The President stressed that the Belarusian-Serbian trade turnover which is the basis of relations has shrunk in recent time. In his words, it is important to address topical issues and find the ways to restore the bilateral trade. “We must do our best to at least reach the previous volume of bilateral trade,” the head of state believes. It made up about $250 million in 2015. The trade turnover fell almost two times in 2016.

Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that there are no forbidden topics in the Belarusian-Serbian cooperation. “We have always supported you even in the most difficult times, and will always support you. We did it although sometimes it was not beneficial for us. We had a principled position, including on the unity of your state. Therefore, you can count on Belarus. You should know that we will do everything we can for Serbia,” the President assured.