Serbian, Belarus presidents issue joint statement

Serbian, Belarus presidents issue joint statement

BELGRADE -- Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko continued his official two-day visit to Serbia on Thursday by meeting with the country’s president, Tomislav Nikolić.

Lukashenko was welcomed in front of the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade with full state honors.

After a closed-door meeting, the presidents were joined by their countries’ delegations for further talks.

Several inter-governmental agreements and memorandums will be signed, according to announcements.

Nikolić and Lukashenko underlined in a joint statement their "commitment to the norms of international law and the UN principles and goals, pointing to a positive trend in overall cooperation between the two countries."

The presidents signed the joint statement on strengthening the central role of the UN in solving the entire set of issues related to preservation of the international peace and security, facing modern challenges and threats and peaceful solution of international disputes and conflicts, Tanjug reported.

"It is with pleasure that the focus was laid on the consistent support of Belarus to Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and the necessity of drafting a comprehensive compromise in terms of Kosovo and Metohija, the importance of the political dialogue between Belgrade and Priština with a view to reaching stability in the region," reads the statement.

The presidents agreed that they will work on expanding the two countries' cooperation in terms of regional association and initiatives.

Commenting on Serbia's forthcoming chairmanship of the OSCE in 2015, the two officials expressed the countries' readiness to expand cooperation...