The Head and members of the Parliamentary Friendship Group with Belarus met today, at the National Assembly House with the Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of Serbia Sergei Malinovsky.
The Head of the PFG with Belarus, Marijan Risticevic thanked Belarus for supporting Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as for its strong support at the United Nations session, during the vote on the resolution on the alleged genocide in Sreberenica, which was invaluable for our country and its citizens.
Risticevic stressed that it is necessary to deepen the economic cooperation between the two countries, especially in terms of agriculture, because at the moment he believes it to be quite modest compared to the two countries’ actual potentials. He expressed his deep gratitude for the support President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko extended to the people of Serbia during the NATO aggression against our country.
"The friendship between Serbia and Belarus has never been in doubt. The Parliamentary Friendship Group with Belarus has 35 members and is traditionally one of the largest in the National Assembly. That is why I believe that it is necessary to work on deepening cooperation and furthering the connections between our two nations. I studied the Belarusian agricultural balances. For us, it is significant that Belarus has a large production of peat and mineral fertilizers, but due to the climate, the production of fruits and vegetables is lacking," said Risticevic.
Ambassador Malinovsky was very pleased that the meeting is taking place at a time when Serbia is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Serbian cities from the German fascist occupier. "Belarus also celebrates the anniversary of liberation and our shared historical memories and the fight against fascism is a very important basis of our traditionally friendly relations. Also, this year marks the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our countries," said the Ambassador. He agreed that it is necessary to strengthen the economic cooperation between the two countries, stressing that Belarus traditionally sees Serbia as a key partner in the Balkan region and in the wider European context as well.
"We unreservedly support the territorial integrity of Serbia and its position on international platforms on all issues, and count on reciprocity with the Republic of Belarus," the Ambassador said.
Malinovsky pointed out that Belarus pays great attention to the activities of the Intergovernmental Economic Commission and expressed the hope that this will be a very important factor in advancing relations between Serbia and Belarus in the economic sphere.
In the course of the meeting, they also discussed the importance of deepening interparliamentary cooperation and upcoming meetings of parliamentarians. They also discussed ideas for the twinning of cities, also extending invitations to visit Serbian cities. The PFG members believe that special attention should be paid to strengthening cooperation in the field of education, tourism and especially culture, as the most important way of connecting the two nations, broaching, in this context, the idea of establishing a direct airline between Belgrade and Minsk.
PFG members Dragan Jovanovic, Slobodan Nikolic, Ugljesa Mrdic, Djordje Komlenski, Branko Pavlovic, Aleksandar Markovic, Dijana Radovic and Slobodan Ilic also attended the meeting and participated in the conversation.
