Belarus welcomes the General Secretary and his wife with the ceremony of offering bread and salt.

After successfully concluding his official visit to Russia, this afternoon local time, General Secretary To Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly arrived at Minsk airport, Belarus, for a state visit to Belarus.

The visit took place from May 11-12, at the invitation of President Alexander Lukashenko.

Welcoming General Secretary To Lam and his wife and the delegation at the airport were: Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Sivak; Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov; Belarusian Ambassador to Vietnam Uladzimir Baravikou; Vietnamese Ambassador to Belarus Nguyen Van Ngu; officials and staff of the Embassy and the Vietnamese community in Belarus.

Welcoming ceremony for General Secretary To Lam and his wife at Minsk International Airport. Photo: Minh Nhat

Minsk Airport was brightly decorated with the national flags of both countries. General Secretary To Lam and his wife stepped off the plane, and a Belarusian girl gave his wife a bouquet of fresh flowers.

According to traditional ceremony, two Belarusian girls solemnly invited General Secretary To Lam and his wife with bread and salt.

Immediately after landing at the airport, General Secretary To Lam and his wife, along with the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, laid flowers at the Victory Monument; attended a gratitude activity, visited and presented gifts to former soldiers and experts who had made outstanding contributions to Vietnam...

Belarusian girls in traditional costumes respectfully invite General Secretary To Lam and his wife to enjoy bread and salt according to Belarus's welcoming ceremony for distinguished guests. Photo: VNA

Relations between Vietnam and Belarus have their roots in the Soviet era and took an important step forward following President Ho Chi Minh's visits to Belarus in 1957 and 1961.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations (January 24, 1992), Vietnam and Belarus have maintained and developed traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with increasingly high political trust.

The two sides cooperate in many fields from national defense and security to economy-trade, culture, education, science and technology, people-to-people exchange, local-level cooperation, creating a legal framework consisting of about 50 documents, including international treaties or agreements between ministries and branches.

Nine provincial-level localities of Vietnam have established friendly and cooperative relations with six out of seven provincial-level administrative units of Belarus.

The Vietnamese community in Belarus welcomes the General Secretary and his wife. Photo: Minh Nhat

A new step forward in bilateral cooperation is the signing and entry into force of the Agreement on Visa Exemption for Citizens of the two countries holding ordinary passports from January 30. Belarus is one of the European countries applying visa exemption for Vietnamese citizens.

General Secretary To Lam's visit is expected to create new momentum for strengthening and expanding bilateral relations, providing orientations to further deepen that good relationship, enhancing the effectiveness of existing mechanisms, and forming new cooperation mechanisms.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/belarus-chao-don-tong-bi-thu-va-phu-nhan-bang-nghi-thuc-moi-banh-mi-va-muoi-2400059.html