Pekka Haavisto / Reuters
Aliaksandr Lukashenka admires the Nordic model of the welfare society and would like to develop his country in that direction, Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told Euroradio in Helsinki.
"We had an excellent visit to Belarus with my Swedish Foreign Minister colleague Ann Linde. So, we met your President Lukashenka and your Foreign Minister Makei and we had excellent talks there.
Of course, there is our full support for that," Haavisto said.
The Nordic model of welfare is distinguished from other types of welfare states by its emphasis on maximising labour force participation, promoting gender equality, egalitarian and extensive benefit levels, the large magnitude of income redistribution and liberal use of expansionary fiscal policy.