On 30 September the President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic, Franco Frattini, discussed urgent issues of Belarusian-Italian relations.

The head of the Italian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would visit Belarus soon.

‘We should be ready for the visit and resolve to the maximum the problem points that we can possibly have,’ said the Head of State.

Alexander Lukashenko thanked the Italian guest for visiting Belarus as he had promised. ‘It is very important for me that you should see our country with your own eyes, talk to our people, to the representative of Italy in Belarus and draw appropriate conclusions of your own,’ said the President. ‘I remember our meeting in Italy very well. We were talking for a long time then and discussed many issues. I understood that the Italian government and you personally have a certain interest in our country.’

‘During that meeting, we identified a range of issues in economy and politics, which could be mutually interesting for us,’ added the Head of State. ‘Time has passed, and it is good that you are here, since we have a chance to see how the things that we agreed upon back then have been implemented.’

The head of the Italian Foreign Ministry said that the visit of the President of Belarus to Rome was valued highly in Italy.

‘Indeed, we have identified the issues that we are both interested in and that bring Italy and Belarus closer to each other,’ said the Minister. He proposed that their meeting with the President should focus on the issues that would be dealt with in the near future, specifically matters of economic and political nature.

Franco Frattini assured the Belarusian leader that Italy would continue to promote in European institutions the idea of rapprochement with Belarus and the idea of building an atmosphere of trust in the relations with this country.

Friendly and cordial relationships have been established between thousands of Belarusian and Italian families in recent years, relationships that mean a great deal to the Italians, said the Minister.

The Minister supported the idea of intensification of cultural ties with Belarus.

Other matters discussed in the course of the meeting included humanitarian cooperation, trade and economic cooperation.