Popovic: Strength of brotherly ties with Belarus confirmed multiple times in history

BELGRADE - The strength and the depth of the brotherly ties between Serbia and Belarus have been confirmed multiple times in history, Serbian Minister for International Economic Cooperation Nenad Popovic said on Friday at a session of a Serbia-Belarus intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation in Belgrade.

"The Serbs remember the brave and noble gesture by President Alexander Lukashenko, who was the only statesman to personally visit Belgrade in the toughest moments of the (1999) NATO aggression to provide support and humanitarian aid to our country," Popovic said.

"Brotherly peoples - the Serbs, Belarusians and Russians - suffered the biggest casualties in the fight against Nazism in WWII. This year, we together marked the 80th anniversary of the great victory over Nazi Germany and its allies," he said.

"It is our joint obligation to preserve the foundations of the friendship between the Serbs and the Belarusians and to solidify them further, to the benefit of all future generations," Popovic noted.

Popovic and Belarusian Minister for Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Artur Karpovich signed a Protocol on Agreed Activities.

At the beginning of the session, the parties highlighted the significance of enhancing Serbia-Belarus relations, as well as the fact 2024 had marked 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"I am very pleased that, after a six-year break, in the year when we celebrate 80 years since the victory over fascism, we are renewing the work of the intergovernmental commission, together with Minister Karpovich. We have excellent relations between the two presidents - President Vucic and President Lukashenko - as well as between the two states and the two peoples. They are not only relations that last, but are deepened year by year and strengthened even more in the toughest of times," Popovic said at the palace of Serbia.

The session addressed the current state of bilateral cooperation, and views were exchanged on opportunities to enhance it further in areas of mutual interest.

Cooperation in trade, business, investments, agriculture, science, the construction industry, artificial intelligence and the health care sector was discussed as well.

"Belarus provides firm and consistent support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia, especially as regards our southern province of Kosovo-Metohija, for which we are sincerely grateful. Also, Belarus voted against the adoption of the Srebrenica resolution in May 2024," Popovic noted.