Lukashenka: We need West with its resources

Dictator asks Latvia to help him to make contact with the West to borrow the funds there.

He stated it today during the meeting with Edgars Rinkēvičs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, BelTA informs.

"We have issues that we constantly have to keep an eye on, discuss them and, if possible, to find acceptable solutions. I never had, have or, I believe, will never have any prejudice against Latvia. We have always found a common language with our partners, especially in trade and economic sphere. I wish we could cooperate with other countries this way", he said.

Lukashenko stressed that Belarus and Latvia have not only a common interest in cooperation development, but also to some extent the interdependence. "We have a lot of infrastructure development projects, especially the port sphere in your state. I see that both the State and private business in Latvia are welcoming us. Therefore, in bilateral relations we plan and hope, despite some bias on the part of some politicians in Latvia (and not only there), to be able to overcome them and to move forward in cooperation in the economic sphere”, he said.

Lukashenka stated that the Belarus-Latvia political and diplomatic relations somewhat fall behind the level of trade and economic relations. "But it's better than economic and trade relations falling behind. As regards the policy, we can always make up for it. I hope that your visit is just to develop our political relationship to the highest level", he said.

The Belarusian side also hopes Latvia may assist Belarus to make contact with other EU countries. Moreover, Latvia holds the Presidency in the European Union in the first six months of 2015. "We have always said that despite that we have very friendly relations with our neighbors - Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine - we see the technological West, which we really need. We need West with its resources. We borrow very much funds there for specific projects based on Western technologies, the Belarusian leader said. - So if Latvia will help us to make contact with the EU during its Presidency (and not only), we'll be very grateful. "