Lukashenko begins official visit to Serbia

Lukashenko begins official visit to Serbia

The Belarus president laid the wreath with high military and state honors of the Guard of the Serbian Army, as he officially began his visit to Serbia.

Lukashenko was accompanied by his son Nikolay.

The Belarus delegation also attended, as did high officials of the Serbian Defense Ministry and army, including Chief of the General Staff General Ljubiša Diković.

On Thursday, Lukashenko will meet with President Tomislav Nikolić. Several agreements are planned to be signed, and the two presidents will address the media later in the day.

Lukashenko's image in the West is that of an autocratic leader and the EU has on several occasion introduced sanctions against him.

He visited Serbia for the first time as the country came under attack from NATO in 1999, when he arrived here to show his support for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and its leader, Slobodan Milošević.

In 2009, he was in Serbia again "on a vacation" in Mt. Kopaonik, but he later also met with representatives of the then state leadership.

The daily Danas notes in its reports that Serbia, as a candidate for membership, supported EU sanctions against Belarus introduced for violations of human rights and media freedoms.

When this Belgrade-based newspaper told President Tomislav Nikolić's foreign policy adviser Ivan Mrkić that the EU "has a negative stance on this visit" and asked him for comment, Mrkić said:

"I was with the president when he visited Minsk. Bear in mind that the president went there last year from Brussels, after his meeting with Catherine Ashton. The EU knew from the start that we were going there and what relations we have with Belarus. We did not hide anything, our goal is to develop best possible ties with Belarus, especially when it comes to the economy."

Such relations cannot harm anyone, Mrkić, who was recently in Kiev for the inauguration of Ukraine's new president, said, and added:

"Lukashenko and (U.S. Vice President Joseph) Biden were sitting in the front row during Poroshenko's inauguration. They were separated by two seats. Lukashenko received the biggest applause in the Ukrainian parliament."