17.11.2015.

President Nikolic meets Minister of Defence of Belarus

The friendship that connects Serbia and Belarus is strong, and now it is up to us to make our economic cooperation just as strong, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said today in Belgrade during his talks with Minister of Defence of the Republic of Belarus Andrei Ravkov.

Nikolic said that Serbia's strategic goal is full membership in the European Union, but that does not mean that we will abandon our traditional friends, the Department of Media Relations of the President of Serbia states.

Serbian President added that the foreign trade between our two countries, which until a few years practically did not exist, is now at a level of 250 million dollars annually, and with a little common effort it is optimally expected to reach a level of half a billion dollars.

Ravkov said that Belarus considers Serbia a traditionally friendly country and that our cooperation so far has shown that Serbia is a reliable partner that always fulfils what has been agreed.

As Defence Minister, Ravkov emphasized particular interest for cooperation between Serbia and Belarus in military scientific and cooperation in the field of military education, as well as in the field of medicine.

On the second day of the visit of the delegation of the Ministry of Defence of Belarus to the Republic of Serbia, Defence Ministers Bratislav Gasic and Lieutenant-General Andrei Ravkov met in the residential building in Milovan Glisic Street in Senjak, where luncheon was prepared.

The lunch, prepared by the Military Institution "Dedinje", was also attended by Ambassador of Belarus to Serbia Vladimir Chushev.

The Ministry of Defence rented from DIPOS Agency the building in Milovan Glisic Street in Senjak for a monthly allowance of about 70,000 dinars. The main purpose of this object now is to provide accommodation and food for foreign delegations visiting the Ministry and the Armed Forces, with the aim of rationalizing costs that had so far been allocated for that purpose.

The Belarusian delegation is the first foreign delegation accomodated in the residential building.