8 February 2010
Lukashenka still in Swtizerland

Alyaksand Lukashenka was still in Switzerland on Monday, according to Pavel Lyohki, head of the presidential press office.

“The president has not yet returned and continues to stay in Switzerland,” Mr. Lyohki told BelaPAN.

The Belarusian leader left for Switzerland on February 3 for what Belarusian government sources called a working visit.

During the visit, which will last a few days and be combined with “short-term recreation,” the head of state will meet with representatives of Swiss business and political circles, the presidential press office said last week.

On February 4, Mr. Lyohki told BelaPAN that the head of state might return to Minsk “any day.” He also promised that the presidential press office would report the results of the visit.

According to Swiss sources, the purpose of Mr. Lukashenka’s visit is to have a vacation at an Alpine ski resort.

In February and March last year, Mr. Lukashenka made similar working visits to Serbia, Armenia and Russia. In particular, he spent six days at Serbia’s Mount Kopaonik ski resort and a few days at Armenia’s Tsakhkadzor ski resort. In late March, he practiced alpine skiing at the Krasnaya Polyana ski resort near Sochi in Russia`s province of Krasnodar Krai, where he was joined by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.