Lukashenko on guests from Latvia detained in Belarus
In his conversation with residents of Prudok agro-town in the Mozyr District, President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko touched upon the topic of detention of Latvians who came to Belarus on a visa-free basis. Biased information resources present this fact as if our country has lured credulous tourists to one of the festivals in order to arrest them here. It’s complete nonsense. We are always glad to have law-abiding guests, but in this particular case there is a significant legal aspect.
“Four Latvians were arrested, and everyone began to shout that ‘Lukashenko has established a visa-free regime to arrest our people’. Of course, such situation worries me. I instructed to sort it out, and it turns out that they brought drugs to us,” the President indicated.
It should be borne in mind that anti-drug legislation in Belarus is quite severe – similar to many other countries. Hospitality and lawlessness are two different things. Therefore, the Head of State reminded, “Think where you are going. Drugs are unacceptable for us. Moreover, they are not even in prison, as usual in this situation. They’re staying at the hotel. We ordered an examination to show them what kind of drug it is: marijuana. Where are you taking it? Our own people bring drugs and then shout that we have offended them. We won’t offend anyone, especially our guests: Belarusians are such people. Meanwhile, don’t bring drugs to us. You’re welcome to come to Belarus, and we’ll treat you with a 100 gram shot of vodka, but no drugs. Therefore, we do not offend anyone, and we are not going to offend, we do not trade people.”
However, it is too early to draw final conclusions, since the investigation is currently underway. Aleksandr Lukashenko underlined, “We treat them in a human way. I was even surprised that our police treated them like this. They were taken to a regional police department, and began to cry and to refuse, saying that those who used drugs drove this car earlier. So why did you come to Belarus in this car? We put them in the hotel and are investigating everything, and they are still offended by us. Why are you offended?”
