Belarus’ trade minister holding business talks in Belgrade

July 11, Pozirk. Belarus’ trade minister, Artur Karpovič, currently in Belgrade, has met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, the ministry’s press office reported.

The Belarusian official thanked the Serbian leader for political and economic support.

The Belarusian delegation is visiting in “difficult days for Belgrade” facing “fires due to high temperatures, protests, ultimatums,” the press release says.

Karpovič co-chaired a meeting of the intergovernmental economic commission and signed a protocol and roadmap to take bilateral relations “to a new level.”

The delegation also met with Prime Minister Đuro Macut and Serbian business executives.

Mass protests continue in Serbia for eight months following the death of 16 people after the collapse of a concrete canopy on the renovated central station in Novi Sad in November 2024.

Serbia is a candidate for membership of the European Union. In 2021, Belgrade joined EU sanctions against Minsk; after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it supported the next packages of restrictions. At the end of January 2022, the Belarusian government extended its retaliatory food embargo to Serbia.

In October 2019, Serbia signed a free trade zone deal with the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Belarus. The document came into force on July 10, 2021.

Vučić was the first European head of state to congratulate Łukašenka on his “victory” in January’s elections.

Vučić and Łukašenka visited each other’s countries in 2019. Their final meeting took place in November last year in Baku, Azerbaijan, on the sidelines of the World Climate Summit.

In 2017, the current Serbian president visited Belarus as his country’s prime minister.

Also read: Łukašenka frustrated with Karić brothers’ Dana Astra