Sergei Glazyev appointed state secretary of Union State

MINSK. April 17 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting with Union State Deputy State Secretary Sergei Glazyev that the latter has been appointed State Secretary of the Union State, the presidential press service said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The president informed about the decision of the leaders of the two countries that Sergei Glazyev will replace Dmitry Mezentsev as State Secretary of the Union State," the statement said.

"We have agreed with Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin that your contribution to the building of the Union State should be weighty. He has a good opinion about you. You have been aware of my opinion for a long time. Therefore, we have made a decision. Dmitry Mezentsev's term in his office is ending and he is leaving for another job," Lukashenko was quoted by his press service as saying.

Lukashenko said that the two countries can build closer relations within the Union State than within a unitary state.

"It happened so that we have two states. We will be building relations. I often say that we are smart enough people to build a unified system of interaction, to build our relations even closer than in a unitary state. Maybe too ambitious, but nevertheless, we should solve this problem. Otherwise (you see what's going on around us) we will not exist," he said.

Lukashenko said Putin is also committed to "the closest relations between the countries."

"This formula 'one Fatherland - two states,' I think it is now a feasible idea. Our Fatherland is from Brest to Vladivostok, I have underlined that since those times," the Belarusian president said.

It was earlier reported that Putin had appointed Mezentsev his envoy to the Constitutional Court.

Mezentsev, who was previously general secretary of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, replaced in this post Alexander Konovalov, who became a judge of the Russian Constitutional Court.