President’s Press Secretary on how Lukashenko's visit to Austria was prepared in 2019
Preparations for the visit of Belarus’ Head of State Aleksandr Lukashenko to Austria in 2019 were accompanied by serious optimism – as noted by Natalya Eismont, the Press Secretary of the President of Belarus, in her talk with the Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA reports
In mid-November 2019, the President of Belarus made his first official visit in a long time to a European Union country: Austria. Aleksandr Lukashenko appreciated then Austria's support for the efforts of Belarus to develop relations with the European Union, which was the second most important trading partner for the republic at that time. Mutual trust was the only one condition for further successful co-operation.
"As far as I remember, preparations for the visit to Austria in 2019 were accompanied by serious optimism. In principle, there was a very good, very positive background. The President went there with a serious, positive attitude, and that visit was extremely eventful. The Head of State held a series of meetings and negotiations at the highest level, and beyond. This is our standard approach: to make the best out of the visit. The President follows this attitude in his work, and he always warns everyone to avoid tourist trips," Ms. Eismont said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko's Press Secretary added that the Austrians thanked the Belarusian side very much for the Maly Trostenets memorial at almost every meeting then.
In March of the same year, Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz paid a visit to Belarus. Aleksandr Lukashenko and Sebastian Kurz unveiled the Array of Names monument in Trostenets. The memorial is dedicated to the memory of the Austrian Jews who were tortured in the dungeons of the Trostenets concentration camp by German fascists.