Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 5 May (BelTA) – Belarus will successfully preside over the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2014. CIS Executive Committee Chairman Sergei Lebedev made the relevant statement as he met with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk on 5 May, BelTA has learned.

Sergei Lebedev thanked the Belarusian head of state for the readiness to take up the CIS presidency for the second time in a row and arrange a number of important forums that were initially supposed to take place in Ukraine. “You caught the CIS banner very fast. I like your saying that it couldn’t have been otherwise because the CIS HQ is in Minsk. I and the CIS states are confident that Belarus’ presidency in the CIS for the second year in a row will be quite successful,” said the CIS Executive Committee Chairman.

After the meeting Sergei Lebedev told mass media that Belarus has been and is in favor of preserving and bolstering integration cooperation in the CIS. It had been confirmed by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, too.

“The previous year of Belarus’ CIS presidency demonstrated the active and committed participation of all the government agencies, Belarusian citizens in integration cooperation. The first steps as part of this year’s new presidency indicate that many events, which are scheduled to take place in 2014 as part of integration interaction, will indeed take place and will contribute to further enhancement of integration cooperation,” said Sergei Lebedev.