Belarusian leader pledges all national reserves to restore European stability
MINSK. July 3 (Interfax) - Belarus will continue to propose peace initiatives to restore stability in Europe, the country's President Alexander Lukashenko said.
"We intend to use all our reserves to restore stability and calm in the region. By putting forward peaceful initiatives we are pursuing one main goal: to find new ways and methods to improve relations among various geopolitical forces," Lukashenko said during an Independence Day parade in Minsk on Wednesday.
The country has been living in peace for 75 years now and should be able to face up to global conflicts, be they military, information or economic ones, he said.
"This global standoff has sucked major powers and small states alike. Everyone is fighting everyone, and this is happening not just around us but right beside our borders," Lukashenko said.
Belarus is boosting its armed forces' fighting capabilities "solely to defend peace on its soil," he said.
"Together with our main strategic partner Russia, we are carrying out military build-up aimed at boosting the defenses of our Union State. We actively cooperate with the Collective Security Treaty Organization members and expand our military and military-technical cooperation with the People's Republic of China," Lukashenko said.
Belarus marks its annual Independence Day on July 3. Initially, from 1991 the Independence Day was marked on July 27, when the former Soviet republic adopted the Declaration of national sovereignty. Following a national referendum in 1996 it was decided to change the date to July 3, the day when the Belarusian capital was freed from the Nazi.