BREST, 22 November (BelTA) – Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maksim Ryzhenkov and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov laid flowers at the Eternal Flame in the Brest Hero Fortress memorial,
BelTA has learned.The ministers laid flowers and observed a minute of silence to honor the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland. The legendary citadel over the Bug is a symbol of courage for the peoples of Belarus and Russia. The Brest Fortress was the first to face the Nazi invaders in June 1941 and repulse them.
The Union State budget earmarks funds on joint programs and projects every year, including those to preserve historical memory. One of them is to conduct repair, restoration, reconstruction and museumification of the buildings of the Brest Fortress. The previous phase took place in 2018-2020. Sixteen projects were implemented, three large permanent exhibitions were created. The new project provides for 11 more projects. It is planned to create a new memorial zone in the Brest Fortress, to do restoration and maintenance work on the facilities.
Brest played host to a joint meeting of the boards of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and Russia. Such meetings have been held annually since 2000. They are an effective mechanism for synchronizing the efforts of the two countries in the international arena.