Lukashenko invites Serbia to intensify relations

MINSK. Nov 12 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has invited Serbia to intensify bilateral relations and exchange visits at the prime ministerial level.

Lukashenko met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, the Belarusian presidential press service said on Tuesday.

"We've lived in diplomatic relations for thirty years now. We've done quite a lot, but serious changes have occurred both in our fate and in Serbia's fate. All of this has passed before our very eyes. And yet life is going on. I think we should intensify our relations. It's bad that we don't have intensive enough relations, with all of our complexities, which do exist, indeed," the press service quoted Lukashenko as saying.

Lukashenko proposed first that members of a Belarusian-Serbian intergovernmental commission review bilateral relations. "If something has become redundant in our relations over this time, it needs to be abandoned and new paths should be planned. Anyway, we should not only maintain our relations, but also intensify them, with all the complications involved," he said.

"I understand Serbia, and I've said oftentimes that you're in a difficult position and are practically encircled and isolated. This is what you should proceed from and build your policy on this basis. But it's wrong to lose old friends. Therefore, you should maintain relations with Russia and Belarus. These are your true friends, your committed friends, and I suppose Serbia will do its utmost in this respect," Lukashenko said.