Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko urges strengthening of CSTO, without posing threats to anyone
Belarus President remarked that Belarus will be preparing seriously for the presidency in the CSTO. However, the country hopes for assistance from the CSTO officials in working out a number of serious proposals to the CSTO heads of state...

Hope for more vibrant investment cooperation between Belarus and European companies
“Many EU companies already have a presence in Belarus. The most interesting sectors include machine-building, electronics, chemical products, pharmaceuticals, timber, and agriculture,” Alexander Mikhnevich noted...

Lukashenko: The Union State spurred integration processes in the CIS space
“The Union State was a prototype of the Eurasian Economic Union. We borrowed all these examples from the Union State,” said the head of state in an interview with the news agency TASS...

Matyushevsky: Belarus views World Bank as important partner
"We hope that the World Bank will continue providing support in the areas of common interest. We welcome the organization’s well-balanced and individual approach to the analysis of the economic situation in our country and the bank’s commitment to its mandate”...

Parliamentary elections hailed as token of Belarus’ advancement in democratization
According to the head of the CIS observer mission, the elections passed in a calm, organized, and open atmosphere. “They were democratic and transparent. And, the most important thing, they allowed citizens of Belarus to express their free will,” noted Sergei Lebedev...

Kosinets: Belarus has implemented almost all OSCE/ODIHR recommendations
“We have implemented almost all the recommendations of OSCE/ODIHR. The first requirement was to secure transparency, which was done. 75% of ballot boxes were transparent. Observers were allowed to present at the vote count procedure,” Alexander Kosinets said...

Lukashenko urges opposition to be constructive
Alexander Lukashenko believes that it is necessary to be closer to people and know their problems. He explained: “Everybody shows care for people starting from the President and ending with the chairman of the village council. Who is against the people? Nobody! But the only difference is that some make things happen and some just like to make speeches”...

Carrying Russian flag in Rio viewed as display of solidarity, protest against injustice
The President also stressed that he is a strong advocate of clean sport without doping. The reason for this is not just a personal position, but also the practical side. “If doping is allowed, then a country like Belarus will never be able to win a medal”...

Lukashenko: Belarus develops dialogue with West without compromising relations with East
"Our destiny is to be a bridge between the East and the West," the Belarusian leader underlined...

Lukashenko: Belarus works hard to avoid election-related criticism from the West
"We do not want to create such problems to our friends. This is why we met the West halfway, considered their recommendations, accepted their terms," the President said...

Lebedev: Equal conditions for all candidates in parliamentary elections in Belarus
The CIS observation mission is composed of 334 people, including 44 long-term observers. "We had the opportunity to closely monitor the election campaign"...

Slutsky: Electoral practice in Belarus has become closer to people
The chairman of the committee pointed to the large number of election observers. “Belarus has nothing to hide. Belarus does not limit the number of people who can come to the country from different missions”...

Yermoshina: Current election campaign more active, more visual in media
When asked about the difference of the current election campaign to Parliament with the previous one, Lidia Yermoshina noted that the main difference is “the amendments that have been introduced to the electoral legislation, mass participation of representatives of the political parties till the end of the campaign, more vigorous TV debates and appearances”...

Harstedt: Parliamentary elections are an important day for Belarusian people
The OSCE Special Coordinator paid a visit to polling station No.463 of Kalvariysky constituency No.104 where he got familiar with the opportunities provided for people with disabilities and hailed the organization of the process...

Observer: Belarus' election practices should be adopted by many European states
The Belarusian practices of holding election campaigns should be adopted by many European countries, head of the group of observers from the State Duma of Russia Oleg Lebedev told media on 11 September...

Lukashenko: Belarusian and Russian investigators can learn from each other
“I think, you can learn a lot from us. You can see something useful here because we have done a lot to reform preliminary investigation and in other fields, retrofitted all branches of the law enforcement system, from ministries and agencies to the Supreme Court,” Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with Chairman of the Russian Investigation Committee Alexander Bastrykin...

Belarus-China cooperation into direct investment phase
“Belarusian-Chinese relations advance all the time. So far the potential of all-round strategic partnership has been fully realized and transition to a special level of cooperation has been activated. The emotional sense of the new level of cooperation equals trust," Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Nikolai Snopkov said...

Minsk ready for organized tourist groups from Vietnam
The deputy head of the Minsk city administration said that well-developed tourism infrastructure has been created in the Belarusian capital. The public catering system and mass transportation are well developed. “Minsk has a great potential as a tourism destination. The capital city is ready to welcome guests from Vietnam as organized groups”...

Belarus president outraged by ‘democracy’ of International Paralympic Committee
In his words, the Belarus president’s stance on the matter is straightforward: support and solidarity with the Russian Paralympians. “We believe it is absolutely unacceptable, it is a crime when perfectly healthy people of some authority choose to infringe on dignity of people, whose abilities are somewhat limited”...

Belarus Sport Ministry: To carry Russian flag in Rio was a team decision
The flag was carried by Andrei Fomochkin, an official of the national teams office at the Sport and Tourism Ministry. In this way the Belarusian Paralympic athletes wanted to show solidarity with their Russian colleagues who were unjustly deprived of the right to take part in the Paralympics in Rio...