Malinovsky Shares Plans for Belarus-Serbia Cooperation

Is there hope to revive the direct Minsk-Belgrade flight?

Is there hope to revive the direct Minsk-Belgrade flight? This question was addressed in "Current Interview" by Sergey Malinovsky, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Belarus to Serbia and concurrently to North Macedonia.

"There's always hope. From the Serbian side, we constantly hear their readiness to discuss this issue. Belarus also mentions it, because there is considerable demand for such a flight," the ambassador stated.

On November 12, 2024, at the climate summit in Baku, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and emphasized the need to intensify cooperation between the two nations.

The diplomat highlighted that the Baku meeting in late 2024 had concrete follow-up actions. For instance, the joint preparation to resume work on the Intergovernmental Economic Commission has been revived, and a co-chair from the Serbian side has been appointed. The Serbian minister responsible for Belarusian cooperation visited Belarus, where he was introduced to Belarusian high-tech products—many of which hold significant interest for Serbia, particularly electric transport.

Sergey Malinovsky, Belarusian Ambassador to Serbia and concurrently to North Macedonia, explained:

"All these areas of cooperation are reflected in joint documents. Notably, the commission held a meeting in Belgrade in mid-July, and now we have an important instrument—a signed cooperation road map for the next three years."

He pointed out several specific initiatives outlined in this roadmap:

- Revival and development of institutional cooperation mechanisms.

- Discussions on agricultural cooperation, with plans to hold a relevant working group meeting by the end of 2025.

- Cooperation in transport, tourism, and several other sectors.

- Mutual interest in advancing high-tech collaboration, which already includes a functioning working group. Plans are underway to hold joint competitions for scientific and technical projects. Naturally, work in the industrial sector will continue, given Belarus’s strong position in exports to Serbia, Malinovsky added.