President of Belarus Stays at State Palace, President Prabowo Shows Respect

Jakarta - Foreign Minister (Menlu) Sugiono said that President Prabowo Subianto gave special honors to Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko by inviting him to spend the night at the State Palace.

This was conveyed by Foreign Minister Sugiono on Thursday, July 2 at the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta. President Prabowo showed this respect in the context of Lukashenko's reciprocal state visit to Jakarta. Foreign Minister Sugiono explained that Lukashenko initially wanted to spend the night at the Presidential Palace Complex.

However, instead of staying at Wisma Negara, Lukashenko was invited by Prabowo to spend the night at the State Palace. According to him, this was a form of Prabowo's respect for Lukashenko during his state visit to Indonesia. Lukashenko became the first president to spend the night at the State Palace during a state visit to Indonesia.

Meanwhile, according to Foreign Minister Sugiono, the last head of government to stay at Wisma Negara was former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Furthermore, Sugiono said the government considers Lukashenko's visit this time to be important because it marks a new chapter in bilateral relations between the two countries.

He explained that Lukashenko's visit was a reciprocal state visit after Prabowo visited Belarus on July 15. From the meeting, the two leaders committed to increasing bilateral cooperation which was considered to have entered a new and more intensive phase.

The momentum was marked by the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Indonesia and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU CEPA), which has been ratified by Belarus. According to Sugiono, the two countries today will take this cooperation to a more advanced stage through the launch of a road map for bilateral relations that covers various strategic sectors.

Sugiono added that through the roadmap, the two countries will strengthen cooperation in the priority sectors of the Prabowo government, namely food security and energy. One form is cooperation in the field of agricultural products and fertilizer raw materials.