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Belarus president urges breakthrough in trade with Europe

Xinhua, October 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has stressed the importance of developing relations with Western Europe, amid a slump of trade between Minsk and the bloc.

While appointing new ambassadors to Germany and Romania on Tuesday, the president ordered embassies and the Foreign Ministry not just represent the country abroad but also actively contribute to the development of economic and trade cooperation between Belarus and other countries.

Belarus needs not just the activation of its relations with Europe, but a real breakthrough, said Lukashenko.

"The trade turnover is the main thing. You will represent your country and will be responsible for a certain trade volume because it brings foreign currency to the country. This is a priority for our state," Lukashenko told the new ambassadors.

Official figures show that the country's trade with the EU in January-August 2016 was only 6.7 billion U.S. dollars, a dropped by almost a quarter compared with the same period of 2015. Endi