Events

MINSK, 3 February (BelTA) – To hold an international conference on Belarus is a good idea, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at the meeting with the members of the public, representatives of the Belarusian and foreign mass media on 3 February, BelTA has learned.

“I totally support this idea. If you find it necessary for me to attend the conference, I will find two or three hours to talk to people and hear their opinions,” said Alexander Lukashenko.

The head of state noted that this conference might be attended by people “who criticized us once”, who treated us with distrust. “It is not true that we close door to the people who criticize us. This is not my position. We granted entry to almost everyone during the 2014 IIHF World Championship. If they are honest, they will change their opinion about the country. Maybe we still have to do a lot, but we have a beautiful country, nice people. Let them see it,” said Alexander Lukashenko. The President added that he does not support the idea of isolationism. “This is not my policy. Bans do no good,” he said.

The idea to hold the conference was suggested by political analyst Evgeny Preigerman. He noted that one of the problems that Belarus faces in international relations is that in the West and the East they look at Belarus from the position of foreign interests. In this context, maybe it would make sense to start a tradition (as is done in many other countries) to conduct a major international conference once a year with participation of the head of state. Thus Belarusian and international experts, who write about Belarus, will get an opportunity to learn about the position of the state from the first hands.