Photo: belta.by

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko met with the newly elected and outgoing members of both chambers of the parliament in Minsk. In his address, among other things the President emphasized that the fact that Belarus is a sovereign and independent country is the only condition in interaction with foreign partners. “We have never wanted and are not going to become part of any other country, even brotherly Russia,” the president said.

At the same time, he mentioned that Belarus cannot sever the links with traditionally close allies such as republics of the former Soviet Union, while developing cooperation with technologically advanced countries. “This is why we cooperate with Europe. We don’t do it because we want to turn our backs on our Russian brothers,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. The president also stressed that Belarus cannot but be on good terms with the USA. “We cannot afford having bad relations. We were lucky to establish good relations with a new empire that has been reborn – the People’s Republic of China. One cannot blame us for changing sides all the time. We always honestly fulfill our commitments,” the head of state said.

According to him, no external threats will be dangerous if the country patiently and calmly moves forward, developing its own economy. The president named political stability and well-coordinated work of all the branches of power as key factors in successful development of the country. As to the Parliament's role, it should become a center of progressive lawmaking:

First of all, new amendments and laws should reflect the real needs of our citizens. We should do everything to make life better. We must use laws for this purpose.

Secondly, the outcomes of any changes in the legislation should be analyzed and calculated for several years to come so that people could see where we are going and what we want to achieve.

The goal of the new parliament should be to ensure the continuity of the country's economic policy to secure sustainable development of Belarus as a sovereign nation, economic growth and improved well-being of the citizens.