Alexander Lukashenko, Silvio Berlusconi to discuss economy and investments

MINSK, 30 November (BelTA) – The main topics that Alexander Lukashenko and Silvio Berlusconi are going to discuss during the visit of the Italian Prime Minister to Belarus will be trade and economic cooperation, development of the legal framework for the relations between the two countries and prospects of investment projects, the President of Belarus said in an interview with the Italian La Stampa newspaper.

Answering the question of the Italian journalist about the democratization guarantees, which Belarus can provide to Silvio Berlusconi, the Belarusian President said: “I do not think that Silvio Berlusconi has come here for any democratization guarantees. What concerns democratization, we can even share it with somebody.”

“As for the issues that we are going to discuss with the Italian Prime Minister, first of all, it is economy and a legal framework for our relations. Apart from that, I remind you that Foreign Minister of Italy Franco Frattini and other Italian representatives, who were in Belarus, said that Belarus has a favorable investment environment and big businessmen are ready to invest in the Belarusian economy. This will be high on the agenda of our talks,” said Alexander Lukashenko. He added that “what concerns these issues, the Italian Prime Minister will receive the firmest guarantees from Belarus.”

The Belarusian President also stressed the important role of Italy in warming up the relations between Belarus and the European Union. “These are merits of primarily two people - Franco Frattini and Silvio Berlusconi,” Alexander Lukashenko believes. “About a score of major EU politicians have visited Belarus in the recent months, and almost everybody noted that Belarus is a truly European state,” said he.