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Lukashenka meets with visiting Spanish foreign minister

Alyaksandr Lukashenka on March 30 met with visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, BelaPAN said.

Belarus is situated at the center of Europe and would like to have a very good relationship with the neighboring European Union, the presidential press office quoted Mr. Lukashenka as saying.

"Wouldn't you agree that living in the 21st century and looking at each other over a fence is not an entirely appropriate prospect?" Mr. Lukashenka said.

With the European Union accounting for half of its foreign trade and its eastern neighbors for the other half, Belarus is very much interested in strong ties with the 27-nation bloc, he stressed.

The meeting focused on the prospects of Belarus-EU relations, with Spain holding the bloc's presidency between January 1 and July 1, 2010, the press office said.

Messrs. Lukashenka and Moratinos also talked about relations between the two countries.

Although Belarus views Spain as a promising economic partner in Western Europe, trade between the two countries remains insufficient, Mr. Lukashenka said.

He expressed gratitude to the Spanish government and common people for helping Belarus deal with the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Every year Spanish charities and families take 3,000 Belarusian children from poor families and Chernobyl-affected areas for respite care, the largest number after Italy and Germany. "This is worth a lot," Mr. Lukashenka commented.

Establishing contact with Belarus is very important for Spain, which chairs the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers and will soon assume the EU presidency, Mr. Moratinos said.

Belarus' position between the EU and the East makes it an important country, he noted.

"It's great that you have such good relations with the Russian Federation," Mr. Moratinos said. "Of course, you stand a very good chance of having equally good relations with the European Union."

He expressed confidence that his visit would give "a good impetus to the development of bilateral relations in all areas."

An agreement has already been reached for mutual visits by Belarusian and Spanish business delegations, Mr. Moratinos said.