BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/01/2009

EU understands importance of Belarus as full-fledged partner - Lukashenko

MINSK. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko welcomes the activation of Belarus-EU relations.

"It is clear now that the EU, a number of international institution and national governments of European countries have begun to understand the importance of Belarus as a fully-fledged partner," Lukashenko told a meeting with a delegation of the union of French enterprises, MEDEF, in Minsk on Monday.

The opening of the office of the European Commission in Minsk and the invitation to Belarus to take part in the Eastern Initiative partnership prove this, the presidents said. The meeting today "is an organic element of the process of activating relations with European countries," Lukashenko added. "The recently made decisions considerably change the content of bilateral relations and ties. Today active talks between Belarusian ministries and the European Commission in the energy and transport area are on, and new contacts in the agriculture, customs and environmental protection areas are being worked on," Lukashenko said.

The president noted that "in history there are a lot of examples when large business became a sort of a 'locomotive' for the further tightening of political relations."

Lukashenko also noted the positive dynamics of the Belarus-EU trade growth, which exceeded $21 billion in January-November 2008, an almost 43% increase compared to the same period in 2007. "Belarusian-French relations are also characterized by a high level of dynamism," the president said.

Source:

http://www.interfax.com/3/466246/news.aspx

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