Lukashenko said that Belarus is ready to support the Republic of Serbia
Belarus is ready to support and assist the Republic of Srpska as much as possible. This was stated by the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, during a meeting with the Chairwoman of the Assembly of the Peoples of the Republic of Srpska of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Srebrenka Golić, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
"I am pleased to see and meet you in Belarus. I want you to know that you have come not just to a country close to your people, but you have come to your friends, to your relatives, you have come to your Belarus," said Alexander Lukashenko. "As I tell my friends, there are no closed topics for you in Belarus, we are capable and ready to do everything we can and what interests you."
The head of state noted that he is well aware of the situation in the Republic of Srpska and was very deeply immersed in the events that unfolded in the 1990s in that region when the Dayton agreements were concluded.
"I saw serious shortcomings of this agreement. And I warned my colleague and friend Slobodan Milošević (President of Serbia from 1989 to 1997, and then President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000. - Note by BELTA) that we need to be very careful when concluding this agreement at the behest of the West, the Americans. That it could bring a lot of troubles to the people. You know that something in this regard did happen. The contradictions that exist in your seemingly common state have not gone anywhere. They have always been sharp, and at some point, this had to spill over," the President stated. "But I say this to you, and you should know: as much as possible today, we are with you, we will support you, we will help you. Again, I say: as much as possible, because we are not nearby, we do not border Bosnia and Herzegovina, we do not border your people, but we are from one root. We remember this. So try to count on us," the Belarusian leader emphasized.
Alexander Lukashenko is confident that the Russian leadership understands and assesses the situation in a similar way. "We know both the past and the present, so we are on your side," he added.
The special closeness of the peoples of Belarus and the Republic of Srpska is also reflected in the fact that in the protocol part of the meeting, the head of state practically did not use the services of an interpreter, perfectly understanding most of what the guest said in Serbian.
Srebrenka Golić shared the details of the meeting with the Belarusian President with journalists. According to her, the parliamentary delegation of the Republic of Srpska congratulated Alexander Lukashenko on his convincing victory in the recent elections and informed him about the development of the political situation in their country.
"I personally love the Republic of Belarus and hope that the result of this visit will be a reciprocal visit from the parliamentary delegation of Belarus, if not this year, then next year," said the Chairwoman of the Assembly.
In February 2024, the President of the Republic of Srpska, Milorad Dodik, visited Belarus on a working visit. According to Srebrenka Golić, after high-level negotiations, some projects have already been implemented. One of them is the supply of Belarusian tractors. "This project has already been successfully implemented," she stated.
During the current visit to Minsk, the parliamentary delegation of the Republic of Srpska also visited the Belarusian State University, where they met with the leadership of the Ministry of Education and the university itself. "We discussed issues of cooperation in the field of education. We hope that an agreement on cooperation between our countries will be signed, which will allow for student exchanges," Srebrenka Golić added.
The Republic of Srpska is an entity (formation) within the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, occupying 49% of the country according to the Dayton agreements of 1995. The economy of the Republic of Srpska is primarily based on industry and agriculture. The most developed sectors are the energy complex, wood processing industry, metallurgy, extraction of natural resources, and textile production. The tourism potential of the Republic of Srpska is quite large due to the presence of rich natural resources and attractions. Mountain tourism, spa tourism, religious, hiking, and ecological tourism are well developed.