MINSK, 1 June (BelTA) - Belarus attaches great importance to strengthening and developing cooperation with Russia, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko said as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Belarus Yevgeny Lukyanov on 1 June, BelTA has learned.
“Belarus attaches great importance to strengthening and further development of cooperation with the Russian Federation. We have always had friendship, trust and mutual understanding at our core. I think it will continue to be so in the political, economic and cultural sectors. The Russian Federation is our key strategic partner. The basis of our relations is, first and foremost, the economy. In good years, the mutual trade reached almost $40 billion. In 2019, it made up some $35 billion. In 2020, we slightly dropped to $30 billion. We started this year well and the bilateral trade has already increased by about 20%. Our presidents discussed the matter during their meeting in Sochi,” said Vladimir Andreichenko.
In his words, MPs do not stay away from solving all issues on the table. “We have very good, constructive relations with the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation - the State Duma and the Federation Council. We hold a lot of events. The recent international scientific and practical conference highlighted the preservation of historical memory and the prevention of the rehabilitation of the Nazism. We are grateful that it was attended by former Russian Ambassador to Belarus Dmitry Mezentsev and Chairman of the State Duma Committee Vyacheslav Nikonov. We hold many events within the framework of the Parliamentary Assembly. On 16 June, there will be a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia. We will discuss the implementation of the Union State programs, budget execution, and work out 2022 budget guidelines. The program of events will include the Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia. Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk is scheduled for 15 July and the program of the event usually includes the Day of the Union State. We will certainly take part in monitoring the elections to the State Duma due in September. As you see our schedule of events is packed. We are not going to give up the momentum. Of course, the tone of work is set by the presidents who have already met three times this year and also by the prime ministers,” the speaker said.
Vladimir Andreichenko stressed the current turbulent times. “I would even say that they are somehow explosive, and we need to meet more often to discuss different issues. Somewhere we have to be proactive, and somewhere we have to adjust the agenda. Today, to put it bluntly, not everyone likes the fact that the political map of the world includes such states as the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. We can see this from the events that have been taking place recently. In particular, the landing of the Athens-Vilnius plane, which was made at the request of the crew. Without waiting for any investigation or establishing any commission, those guilty in Belarus have been named at once. It is clear that they are trying to create an image of Belarus as an enemy, to isolate our country. The goal is to cause discontent among the people. I think we must adequately respond in a tough, mirror-like manner to all attempts to shake the situation in the Republic of Belarus. I believe that we have a lot of areas for cooperation. There are a lot of unrealized opportunities. I think this is the key to our future success,” he said.
Yevgeny Lukyanov added that his appointment as ambassador is not only a great honor but also a great responsibility. “This is due to the nature of the relations between our countries and the problems that we solve in working order in political and economic terms. There is one big factor that will help me in my work. This is not only the good attitude of the Belarusian authorities to the Russian embassy, to Russia, but above all a working human and political contact between our leaders. It makes it easier for all of us to fulfill the tasks that are set not only by presidents but also by life itself. The life is dynamic and unpredictable. Events sometimes develop super unexpectedly, and outbursts of emotion are also quite understandable. Now there will probably be another outburst of emotion about the plane landing in Berlin. Fortunately everything ended safely, no explosive device was found. We will see how the situation develops around this incident, how ICAO reacts, what time frame they will set for looking into the incident,” he said.
The ambassador underlined that interparliamentary relations between Belarus and Russia are multipronged and multi-level. “Of course, they should serve as a serious support to the work of our states on integration, rapprochement, and the definition of the priorities, which should be regulated by the lawmakers,” he concluded.
Photos by Egor Pavlyushchik
