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MINSK, 9 October (BelTA) – Gomel and France’s Clermont-Ferrand agreed to intensify cooperation. The matter was discussed at a meeting between Belarus’ Ambassador to France and Portugal (on concurrent accreditation) Pavel Latushko and the Mayor of Clermont-Ferrand, which took place during the visit of a Gomel delegation led by Gomel Vice Mayor Sergei Andreyev to France, BelTA learnt from the Belarusian embassy in France.

The parties noted that Gomel and Clermont-Ferrand have been twin-towns since 1977. In 2015 the two cities have intensified bilateral contacts. In May 2015 Gomel was visited by a delegation from Clermont-Ferrand. Gomel representatives are currently paying a return visit to the French city.

The Mayor of Clermont-Ferrand confirmed his readiness to visit Gomel in H1 2016 in order to implement the reached agreements as well as new economic and humanitarian projects. He also congratulated Pavel Latushko, including as the former Culture Minister of Belarus, on Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich winning the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature. He expressed confidence that it would lead to an increased number of translations and a higher interest in the Belarusian literature in France. In turn, Pavel Latushko noted that it is a historic event for the Belarusian culture and expressed confidence that Svetlana Alexievich’s Nobel Prize would become one of the key factors in strengthening the national self-consciousness of the Belarusian nation.