Minsk remains the most important hub on the geopolitical map of the world.
As said |
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President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko: – It's time for the strong. Not aggressively strong, but strong-minded. Real power is measured by the aspiration to become better, to make the world a better place, to accept its national, confessional, and ideological diversity, and to help those who are weaker. This is how we Belarusians understand the strength of the nation… We are a strong nation. What should we do first to retain this status? It's simple: we need to get even stronger. The cornerstone is a strong economy. But it is also a consequence of the right geopolitical choice. |
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At the meeting of the 7th All-Belarusian People's Assembly, April 24, 2024. |
Minsk remains the most important hub on the geopolitical map of the world, which was eloquently confirmed last week. On August 22, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang paid an official visit to Belarus. This visit has already been called historic. And just the next day, on August 23, the Head of State held a meeting with the Apostolic Nuncio to Belarus Ante Josic, who is completing his mission in our country. The two landmark meetings are based on the main commitment of the Belarusian foreign policy and the undoubted recognition of its weight on the world stage.
Economy – at the level of politics
Minsk – Beijing relations have long been a unique foreign policy course of our time. And first of all, thanks to the political foresight of the President of Belarus, who recognized their strategic prospects several decades ago. But development is a constant thing, and the current highest status of Belarusian–Chinese relations, which was fixed by the heads of the two states, now has to be filled with new economic content. The parties have both a mutual desire and real opportunities for this. Alexander ¬¬Lukashenko at a meeting with Li Qiang said:
– Despite the great geographical distance, today we are united not only in our assessments of the past, but also in our views on the current political situation, as well as on the future world order. Belarus and China have established the highest level of relations in history – an all-weather and comprehensive strategic partnership. Now the most urgent task for us is to raise economic and investment cooperation to the level of political cooperation.
At a time of difficult geopolitical situation in the world, characterized by a crisis in the system of international relations, Belarus and China demonstrate a high level of partnership and mutual trust, Sergey Volchkevich, analyst of the Grodno BISR office, said.
– Of course, this was facilitated by the closeness in the beliefs and assessments of what is happening of our leaders – President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping.
The visit of Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang to our country has a very critical, according to many estimates, historical significance.
A large package of agreements was signed, it was decided to declare 2024-2025 the years of cooperation between Belarus and China in the field of science, technology and innovation, five industrial projects were launched, and twelve more are planned to be agreed in the near future.
In addition, profound plans for the joint development of the China's provinces and Belarusian regions were reviewed and supported at the highest level.
For the Grodno region, China is one of the main trading partners. Steady growth in trade turnover and intentions to significantly increase it are recorded. Our food and processing products are in particular demand among the Chinese: meat and meat offal, skimmed milk powder, whey powder, rapeseed oil. By the way, the Slonim Meat Processing Plant's brand store has been operating in the Chinese province of Shanxi for more than a year. There are large reserves in terms of supplies of products from our woodworking industry: lumber, plywood, wood slabs and more. In turn, we are expecting equipment, machines, components and, of course, investments from China.
Of course, attention is also being paid to humanitarian cooperation, expanding ties in the fields of health, culture, education, sports and tourism.
– Despite the significant geographical distance, we expect that guests from China will more often choose our destination for their holidays. In this regard, the visit of representatives of large Chinese tourism companies to the Grodno region which will help them learn more about the history, culture, sights of our region, and will serve to strengthen friendly ties between peoples, is viewed positively.
Geopolitical consonance
The Belarusian President has twice visited the Vatican on official visits. In 2009, Alexander Lukashenko met with Pope Benedict XVI and Secretary of State of the Holy See Tarcisio Bertone. In 2016, the Belarusian leader met with Pope Francis and Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. In a conversation with Ante Jozic, the Head of State stressed the main thing:
– It is easy for me to talk to you as a representative of a religious confession, one of the main in Belarus, because our views – the leadership of Belarus and the Vatican – practically coincide, especially on security issues. Security in Europe.
The Apostolic Nuncio himself summed up the results of this conversation in the final information week section "Time of the First" on Sunday's "Glavny Efir" (eng. - "The Main Broadcast") of the Belarus 1 TV channel. Answering the question should we expect the Pope's visit to Belarus, Ante Jozic said:
– The Pope is always ready to come to any country, especially where Catholics live. But this requires conditions and preparation. I think the time will come when this will be done and realized. I know that Pope has already been invited, but we still need time to prepare. And the ¬¬President told me that it is very important to meet, he respects the Pope. And Pope told me that he wants to help this state too. The contact, the dialogue, has already been established, and I think that there will be an opportunity for a meeting and the Pope will also see this beautiful city of Minsk, Belarus.
Oleg Dyachenko, Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee on International Affairs of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, Belarusian religious scholar, PhD, Associate Professor, explains the significance of the meeting by saying that today the Vatican represents a tangible reality in the system of international relations, actively participates in modern international life, and the Pope directly influences the definition of the political line more than the head of any European or other State and Government:
– It is also important that the role of the Vatican in international relations is determined by the formation of religious and political views of Catholics from all continents, their political parties and public organizations, and this, please note, is more than 1 billion 340 million people, or almost 17 percent of the world population. And in Belarus, the Roman Catholic Church holds a strong position, numbering over 500 communities and more than 1 million 400 thousand believers, which is about 16 percent of the country's total population. By the way, the rights of Belarusian Catholics are reliably protected at the highest state level, and their interests are taken into account in the confessional policy.
The parliamentarian and scientist emphasizes:
– Belarus and the Vatican have the same views on morality and ethics preservation in society. And these are not just words. Belarus has implemented into national legislation, including the country's Constitution, the most important Christian values regulating, for example, family and marriage relations. We also have common approaches to the formation of a new international security architecture in Europe, to the establishment of peace in the Eastern ¬European region, to the cessation of senseless bloodshed in the south-east of Ukraine. The peacemaking role of Belarus is known to everyone, as well as the desire of the Holy See to contribute to the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. The ¬¬President of Belarus thanked Apostolic Nuncio Ante Jozic for his help in the liberation of Belarusians after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine.
All this, as well as many other things, once again underlines the importance of trusting relations between our country and the Vatican, and is also a significant foundation for future joint diplomatic initiatives.
Direct speech
Elena Potapova, Deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus:
– At a meeting with Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang, Alexander Lukashenko stressed that Belarus and China share an important stage in their joint history, despite the remoteness of our territories, the difference in culture and traditions, – the fight against fascism. 70 years ago, Belarusians as part of the Soviet army participated in the liberation of the Chinese people from Japanese military militaristic pressure and influence. 83 years ago, representatives of the Chinese people, even the son of the Chinese statesman Mao Zedong, participated in defending our land from the Nazi occupiers. As in Belarus, China has great respect for history and takes great care of preserving historical memory. It is then that building confidential relations between our peoples started.
Diplomatic relations between Belarus and China have been in existence for more than 20 years. Alexander Lukashenko is building strong ties with the Asian people. We are reliable partners and allies in defending our interests within the framework of international organizations, in the part of the UN, where China also supports the positions of Belarus.
The development of a roadmap for the implementation of the results of Belarusian-Chinese cooperation in our science and economy is progressing. The visit of the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China to Minsk resulted in signing of a significant package of documents, including in health, security, and culture. Apart from practical side of cooperation, this meeting demonstrates to the whole world that Belarus and China are in very serious, strong allied relations, which allow us to feel even more confident on the world stage.
Today, our countries claim independence and their role in building a new multipolar model of the world with a just world order without the hegemony of the countries of the so-called collective West, and in fact the United States and equal opportunities for the development of all states.