MINSK, February 19 (BelTA) - The visit to Belarus was very fruitful, Javier Solana, High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Secretary-General of both the Council of the European Union, told reporters in Minsk on February 19. “We had a very constructive talk with the President of Belarus. We discussed the interaction and future prospects. We talked what we need to do to improve the relations between Belarus and the EU and discussed the issues related to the...

MINSK, February 18 (BelTA) – Belarus, Latvia and Lithuania plan to propose a joint energy project to the EU, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergey Sidorsky told BelTA after his meeting with Prime Minister of Latvia Ivar Godmanis. “In the near future we will develop a joint Belarus-Lithuania-Latvia project in the energy area and offer it to the EU”, Sergey Sidorsky said. He added that Belarus is carrying out a programme to modernize its power engineering industry and increase its capacity....

MINSK, February 17 (BelTA) – Belarus is not going to deceive the West, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told reporters in Mogilev. “It is just clumsy babble of the opposition who says that Lukashenko allegedly deceives Europe. I have never ever intended to deceive anyone, I have always advocated honest and transparent policy. And Europe understands it now,” the head of state underlined. “I would like to point out: no one should think that I am trying to please the West. I...

MINSK, February 16 (BelTA) – The visit of the PACE delegation to Minsk is to encourage the re-establishment of Belarus’ special guest status in this organization, Boris Batura, Chairman of the Council of Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, said as he met with Chairperson of the PACE Political Affairs Committee Goran Lindblad on February 16. “We hope that the visit of the PACE delegation to Belarus will result in the practical consideration of the re-establishment of...

MINSK, February 16 (BelTA) - The necessary measures are being taken in Belarus to control inflation, the presidential press service quoted Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky in his report to President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on February 16. In 2008 the consumer price index totalled 113.3% while the target was set at 108%. January 2009 saw inflation as high as 4.1%, which is attributed to the Belarusian ruble devaluation. Meanwhile, the necessary measures are in place in Belarus to tame...

MINSK, February 12 (BelTA) - The implementation of the agreements that were reached at the Moscow session of the Supreme State Council will become a major breakthrough in the Union State development. The statement was made by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko as he met with Kaliningrad Oblast Governor Georgy Boos on February 12. The President underscored, for the first time in years the SSC session was so productive. In his opinion, it gave a boost for the future development of...

The Physics and Technology Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus has designed the country’s first ultralight unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for video monitoring of areas and objects, head of the complex systems and materials modelling lab of the institute Yuri Yatsyna told BelTA. Powered by electricity for virtually noiseless flight, the UAV utilises the latest technologies in the area of precision mechanics as well as optimum solutions in control and optics components....

An agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations between Belarus and San Marino was signed in Rome on February 9, BelTA has learnt from the Belarusian Embassy in Italy. The agreement was signed by Yevgeny Shestakov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Italy, and Barbara Para, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of San Marino to Italy. In line with the terms of the agreement, it will take effect upon the completion of the due domestic procedures in...

At the beginning of 2009 Belarus’ external public debt stood at $3.7 billion, or 6.5% of the GDP. The figure is within the economically safe range, Belarusian Finance Minister Andrei Kharkovets told a session of the Finance Ministry board on February 6. According to the Minister, in order to improve the quality of management of foreign liabilities in Belarus it is necessary to work out a strategy of government borrowing for 2009-2012 and determine the annual admissible borrowing volumes....

Liberalisation and optimisation of criminal and criminal procedural legislation should not affect the quality of judicial proceedings and should not create favourable conditions for corrupt practices. The statement was made by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at a government session dedicated to the improvement of criminal and criminal procedural legislation on February 6. Alexander Lukashenko remarked, proposals for the liberalisation and optimisation of criminal and criminal...