Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 11 July (BelTA) – Belarus should assert itself on the world stage, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting to discuss Belarus’ foreign policy priorities at the current stage, BelTA has learned.

“At the modern stage of development, the Belarusian state needs to build its foreign policy and foreign economic activities in a new way, a more ambitious and aggressive way. I believe that the time has come for Belarus to assert itself on the world stage, to promote and protect the national interests more actively. It is not to satisfy some ambitions but to strengthen our sovereign and independent state, both politically and economically. First of all, economically,” the head of state noted.

The president said that the effective interaction of Belarus with the outside world is the domain of not only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “This is a job for all of us present here: the president, parliament, government, ministries and departments, local authorities, economic actors. On all fronts: political, economic, humanitarian, security, culture, education, sport,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

“If one of our agencies cannot find its place in this work, it means the priorities have been set wrong. Large-scale development is impossible without promoting our projects internationally. If there are no projects, there is no effective work!” the Belarusian leader believes.

Speaking about the role of Belarus in the international politics, Alexander Lukashenko underlined that there are all the preconditions for strengthening it. “Indeed, for the most part of the world, we are a young sovereign state. But the process of our state shaping its sovereignty is running for more than one century. The states which preceded the modern Belarus were full-fledged participants in the events taking place in our region, and sometimes were a pace-setter. Therefore, we have certain historical experience of active foreign policy,” the Belarusian leader said. “It is not only us who have this experience. We are not isolated from the rest of the world. In this respect we can learn from others,” the president added.