The West is interested in developing constructive relations with Belarus, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said while receiving Valery Vakulchyk, head of the Committee for State Security (KGB), in Minsk on February 21.
Mr. Lukashenka said that he wanted to discuss the state of Belarus` relations with Western countries, "above all with the European Union and the United States." "Lately I have seen not only with the help of internal sources but also the media that Western countries are interested in establishing constructive relations with us," the presidential press office quoted him as saying. He asked Mr. Vakylchyk to give his opinion on "whether there is any specific progress here" and on foreign countries` policies and plans concerning Belarus.
Mr. Lukashenka warned that the meeting with the KGB head was a planned, regular event. "Today people will hear me and think that something is wrong in our country. No, this is natural, every year the KGB head, the state secretary [of the State Security Council] report to me on the situation, on what we should devote our attention to this year while shaping our foreign and domestic policy," he was quoted as saying.
Mr. Lukashenka said that he saw no alarming "trends" inside Belarus.
"We do not intend to dramatize the situation, but, as I have told the military, we should keep our powder dry and keep our eyes open in order to counter unwelcome trends both inside and outside our state," he said.
