MOGILEV, 12 October (BelTA) – During the plenary session of the 5th Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia on 12 October, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko suggested focusing on youth matters during the next forum of regions, BelTA has learned.
“Dear participants of the plenary session! I suggest dedicating the next forum of regions to the youth agenda. We should discuss a variety of matters related to education, culture, creativity, patriotic upbringing and promotion of a healthy lifestyle among young people. Our young generation should be encouraged to live and work on their native land. After all, the youth shapes the future of the two countries,” Alexander Lukashenko said.
“We should do everything so that the youth of Belarus and Russia looks, first of all, at each other, not the way it happens sometimes when Russians look through Belarus further at the West, just like Belarusians. I have recently met with the ambassador [Russian Ambassador to Belarus Mikhail Babich] and he told me that about 50 Belarusians get enrolled at Russian universities. At the same time, 2,000 young people went to the West for education. We cannot close up; everyone should make their own decisions. However, we should do our best so that our young people study in Russia and Belarus. The future belongs to the youth. Let us consider arranging a large-scale forum and dedicating it to the youth,” the head of state said.
The president emphasized that not only economy underpins Belarus-Russia relations. The next two years will be associated with landmark events as the two brotherly nations will mark the 75th anniversary of Belarus' liberation from the Nazi invaders and 75th anniversary of the Great Victory.
“Everything that has to do with the Great Patriotic War is sacred for both Belarusians and Russians. Using the example of the feat of Soviet soldiers who defended our common Motherland, we should instill a sense of patriotism in the new generation of citizens of Belarus and Russia,” Alexander Lukashenko is convinced.
It is important for the two countries to create the necessary conditions to enable young people to get high-quality education and good jobs at home. “Ambitious and talented, they are needed everywhere: in manufacturing, politics, business, science, education, public administration,” the Belarusian leader noted.
According to the president, no other event held in Belarus and Russia can equal the forum of regions in terms of scale and significance. “These forums bring our nations together and unite them into a single whole that cannot be disintegrated,” the head of state noted.
