Meeting with SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has met with Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Nurlan Yermekbayev who led the SCO observation mission at Belarus' presidential election.

First of all, Aleksandr Lukashenko expressed gratitude to Nurlan Yermekbayev for running the SCO observation mission in Belarus and acknowledged the vast experience and professionalism of the SCO observers.

“You are a newly-minted secretary-general (you took over the job on 1 January), but this is your second time at our elections. Therefore, you have the relevant experience. You have developed a sharp eye, so you know where to look for shortcomings and flaws. I know that you and your colleagues have been working very hard here, you familiarized yourselves with the electoral process. Since you have experience, you can also give us some advice. You are nice people, you are our friends, so we pay heed to what you say. And I know that you don't have any agenda or skin in the game. We appreciate it,” the President said. 

“You know our position in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization very well. We will be working in every possible way to ensure that the organization gains momentum and grows stronger. This is very important for us. We see the SCO a serious center of attraction in the future, we can say, a center of power,” the Belarusian leader said.

According to the President, Belarus is proud to become a full member of the SCO.

“We thank you very much. Please, pass on my gratitude to your colleagues for the work you have done during the presidential election,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.