Events

MINSK, 30 May (BelTA) – Minsk will play host to the summits of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic Union, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with heads of the delegations attending the meeting of the CIS Heads of Government Council in Minsk, BelTA has learned.

According to Alexander Lukashenko, at the meeting on 29 May the Presidents took the decision to hold the Eurasian Economic Union summit prior to the CIS Heads of State meeting. The Belarusian head of state took note of some issues that require discussion.

In his words, the CIS development was discussed in Minsk a year ago. “When the need arose due to well-known events in March 2014 we agreed to take over the presidency in the CIS without a second thought,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

2014 has been declared the Year of Hospitality in Belarus. A number of important events have been scheduled to take place in the country in this respect. Some of them have already been held. Thus, in May Minsk hosted a big international sporting forum, the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. Alexander Lukashenko noted that Belarus is inspired by its positive assessment. “We pledged to make this tournament the best in its history. High guests and representatives of different countries and the international federation were unanimous that this championship was the best. I assure you it will be impossible to repeat it,” Alexander Lukashenko said. In his words, the games were attended by over 650,000 fans. Hospitality areas and fan zones were visited by more than 2 million people. The President also views it as an achievement that the crime rate during the championship in Minsk was half as high as in other days. “It speaks volumes and it looks a bit strange that we try to analyze this phenomenon,” the head of state added.

In a month Belarus will mark another important event, i.e. the 70^th anniversary of the liberation from the Nazis. “It is a sacred day, glory and joy which we would like to share with your nations. We were able to win together, as one big family,” the President said addressing the heads of the government delegations.