Lukashenko in interview with Izvestia: any politician who encroaches on Belarus’ sovereignty will be rejected by its people
Any politician who encroaches on the sovereignty of Belarus will be rejected out by its people – as stated by Belarus’ President Aleksandr Lukashenko on the side-lines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan during an interview with Izvestia, BelTA reports
“I have always insisted and insist that the house — if we view the Union State as a house — should be built from the foundation. What is our relationship based on? Economy. That’s why, it is necessary to create the economic basis of this state. My ironclad requirement and condition is that we have a common Homeland, stretching from Brest to Vladivostok. There’s no getting away from it. We have been used to this for decades and centuries,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “Meanwhile, through no fault of our own, it so happened that there are two sovereign states: Belarus and huge Russia. This is an inflexible law of our time.”
“Therefore, all sorts of talk about the empire, its satellite, about joining Russia and so on… Take my place. Would you, being the president of a sovereign (I’m not saying independent, since we depend on each other) country, destroy this state tomorrow? Firstly, I can’t do it, and no one has authorised me to do it. Secondly, any move by any politician in this direction will be rejected by the Belarusian people,” the President stressed.
At the same time, he assured that Belarusians are the most loyal and reliable people for Russians. “There are no more loyal, outspoken and honest people in the world for you, and do not even look for them. I am an experienced politician, and I already know this for sure,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “I am a politician who doesn’t cling to power, not that I don’t care if I’m in power or not, but I don’t cling to power. Now I am thinking more about children, about yours and ours. We should develop our co-operation in this direction.”
The President stressed that it is impossible to raise questions in such a way that ‘you are smaller, we are bigger, our economy is huge, we will help you, you will join Russia’. “This is impossible and unrealisable. I’m afraid to even say that this is a war. But you see our relationship with Putin. We have a lot of negotiations, personal contacts and others things. We have never had such a question. Well, some high-ranking people in Russia are itching to do it, but this idea should be abandoned,” the Head of State stressed. “Why is this so? I often say that Putin and I are smart enough. We have plenty of specialists in order (despite having two sovereign states) to build such close relations within the Union State, which will be closer and stronger than in a unitary state. And no one will be offended by anyone. We need it.”
In this regard, the President noted that the world has changed, and now is not the Middle Ages, when a particular territory could be simply captured. “You can win something today, but what will happen tomorrow? Well, let’s say Russia conquered Ukraine. What’s next? When making a move, a smart and wise politician should always think what will happen next. Therefore, Putin – he often talks about it – has never had the task to conquer,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “We often discuss this issue. Can such a huge country be crushed without consequences? No. What do we want to get so that there is always guerrilla warfare and they commit terrorist attacks against us and Russians? They will do it. Why? Because they will be pushed to do so. Explosives can be delivered to them at any time. These are at least terrorist attacks. That’s why the world is like this now, it’s not the Middle Ages, when it was enough to seize territory, receive taxes — and that’s fine. The world has changed; the world is different now. Therefore, there is no need to set stupid tasks for themself, and it is necessary to always think about what will happen next.”
