President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic hosted a welcome reception for the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, in front of the Palace of Serbia. Vucic estimated that there is lots of room for Serbia and Belarus to further deepen and improve cooperation.
Namely, Lukashenko’s visit is happening on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Belgrade and Minsk, which has been marked in recent years by the strong development of economic cooperation and trade.
After the welcome, along with the line-up of the Guard of the Serbian Armed Forces, the anthems of the two countries and military salute in honor of the arrival of a high guest from Belarus, there will be a tete-a-tete conversation between the two presidents, followed by a plenary meeting of the delegations of Serbia and Belarus.
A ceremony to mark the exchange of six signed bilateral documents will take place next, after which Presidents Vucic and Lukashenko will address the media, on the occasion of Lukashenko’s fifth official visit to Serbia.
The Belarusian delegation also includes Foreign Affairs Minister Vladimir Makei and Justice Minister Oleg Slizhevsky. The Serbian Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the Belarus Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Embassy of Belarus in Belgrade will organize a Business Forum tomorrow in order to develop economic cooperation between the two countries.
By the value of exports Belarus is in 34th place as Serbia’s trading partner – 37th in terms of the value of imports.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko arrived on an official visit to Serbia yesterday, and was greeted at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Then, Vucic and Lukasheno, the only president who came to Belgrade during the air raids, had laid wreaths at the Cemetery of the Liberators of Belgrade and at the Red Army Monument.
Vucic said he was pleased to be in a position to once again welcome his Belarusian counterpart, the only politician to visit Serbia during the NATO bombing.
“We will never forget your visit in 1999. You were the only world leader who, at a time when it was hard for Serbia, came and wanted to show how much you love the Serbian people and our Serbia”, he said at the beginning of the tete-a-tete meeting.
The Serbian people, Vucic emphasized, loves the Belarusian people and respects everything Lukashenko has done and made of his country.
“We want to preserve the best relationships between our friendly nations and states. Our political relations are sincere, open and friendly and fraternal, as trade relations grow, so much more can be done to increase economic exchange by up to $ 500 million on annual basis”, he said.
Vucic expressed confidence that with the support of Lukashenko, his energy, work and effort, it will be able to carry out this work.
“Thank you for coming to Serbia. Your visit means a lot to us and we invite you to come to visit our country more often”, he said.
Source: b92
