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Belarus, Syria can accelerate considerably bilateral relations, Lukashenka says

Belarus and Syria can make considerable progress in their political and economic relations, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said when meeting with the visiting president of the Southwestern Asian country, Bashar al-Assad, upon his arrival in Minsk on Monday, BelaPAN reports.

The two countries also share views on the world order and “can do much today,” the government’s news agency BelTA quoted Mr. Lukashenka as saying.

“I would like you to know our country better and learn about its opportunities as a result of your visit,” he said. “We would like to know in detail Syria’s opportunities, and if Syria is interested in cooperating with Belarus in some areas, I assure you that we will also do everything possible.”

“You are our friends. We know how to build relations with our friends and are ready to do everything what you may wish,” the Belarusian leader said.

Mr. Lukashenka noted that he always recalled with pleasure his visits to Syria and talks with late President Hafez al-Assad. “Hafez al-Assad was my first friend in the Muslim world and elsewhere in the East,” he said. “I still remember the time that we spent together. He told me many things about what was going on in that world and in relations between the Soviet Union and eastern countries. I recall it with warmth in my heart, because I, a young politician, was then given a good lesson. As a result, I looked at many things in a different way.”

“I had a very nice impression of your state,” he said. “And I am saying this not because the protocol requires. I really love your country, although it differs much from my Belarus. It seems to me that very kind and freedom-loving people live there.”