MINSK, 7 December (BelTA) – The enforcement of sanctions activates a spare engine in the head and encourages the government to find new opportunities and a way out of the existing situation. Belarus' Honorary Consul in Belgrade, Chairman of the Serbia-Belarus Friendship Group in the Serbian Parliament Dragomir Karic made the statement after meeting with Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko on 7 December, BelTA has learned.
The Serbian MP stressed that there are no topics to avoid in cooperation with Belarus. “I could put it shortly: one nation lives in two countries – Serbia and Belarus,” he said.
Dragomir Karic pointed out that a lot of what Belarus is facing now Serbia had already experienced in the past, including problems with migrants. After Yugoslavia fell apart, it experienced a large flow of refugees and nobody offered assistance for tackling the problem. “We understand your problem very well. The president told me (and it surprised me a lot) how you are managing it and how you help. The one million worth of aid that you've received [financial aid from various sources for the refugees] is a grain of sand at the bottom of the sea. But the situation is evolving in a way that you can handle. Sanctions give every state an opportunity to activate a spare engine in the head in order to see where mistakes have been made and leverage the available resources in order to find a way out and bring about more opportunities,” he stressed.
According to Dragomir Karic, any humanitarian problem in one country becomes a problem for the entire Europe, a small one. “If something happens in Belarus today, it will happen in our country tomorrow,” he remarked. As an honorary consul and the chairman of the parliamentary group of friendship with Belarus Dragomir Karic sees his mission in fostering the advancement of bilateral relations as much as possible. “I support peace. I am against discrimination,” he said. “Good economic competition is always desirable. But force, pressure, and various sanctions don't produce anything. Serbia, former Yugoslavia are champions as far as sanctions are concerned. Sanctions against Belarus are nothing. Don't be afraid. It will pass. And you will be even stronger.”
Dragomir Karic said he regrets that the sanctions are having a negative effect on the companies that operate in Belarus, including Serbian ones. “We support the people of Belarus, our company. We work everywhere. We are hardworking. The West is wrong to introduce sanctions,” the Serbian businessman said. He stressed that sanctions are unfair and unreasonable, particularly as far as pressure from the countries Belarus neighbors with is concerned. “We had the same. The first problems were problems with the neighbors that we'd been friends with until recently. And then they turned out to be more ‘democratic' or as they say ‘more Catholic than the Pope',” he noted.
Dragomir Karic said: “I'd like to wish the Belarusian people the very best. Look only forward. All of it will pass. Nobody can rule here except for the Belarusian people. Nobody can choose except for the Belarusian people.”
“We will preserve our friendship. It is the most precious thing,” he concluded.
