OREANDA-NEWS. September 25, 2009. The state ideology should be built on the foundation of Christian values, said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko as he met with Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill on 25 September.

Alexander Lukashenko thanked the head of the Russian Orthodox Church for fulfilling his promise and coming to Belarus. “It is your Belarus, you can consider the land native,” the President told Patriarch Kirill. “It is part of the huge Orthodox nation. 85% of the Belarusians are Orthodox believers. We have an opportunity to thoroughly discuss all the issues that might exist from the Orthodox clergy’s point of view. Although we discuss them every year: meetings with the Synod are held twice a year and we openly discuss everything”.

The Belarusian head of state admitted he does not completely understand how such a huge institution that the church is can be separated from the state. In his opinion, it is difficult for the state to exist without the church. When Belarus had to choose ideology, Alexander Lukashenko suggested using Christian values as the basis. “We are trying to shape our state ideology but so far there is nothing better than Christian values,” he remarked.

The Belarus President assured that he will always support the Orthodox Church. “The period when we repented is over. It is now necessary to continue building the strategic avenues of cooperation between the church and the state,” he added.

According to the head of state, in Belarus there are 25 confessions, which co-exist peacefully. There are no interdenominational conflicts.