President’s Press Secretary on Lukashenko’s 7-hour conversation with journalists in 2017
Some journalists fly thousands of kilometres to attend the press conferences of Belarus’ President Aleksandr Lukashenko, and it would be wrong not to give them the opportunity to ask a question – as noted by Natalya Eismont, the Press Secretary of the Head of State, in her talk with the Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA reports
The Big Conversation with the President that took place in February 2017 became the Belarusian leader’s longest press conference, lasting 7 hours and 21 minutes.
“So many people are asking: why is it taking so long? This is not the most usual format for world leaders. We always have the same principle and approach: to participate in such press conferences, we choose the most, shall we say, diverse and the most acute. We realise that the conversation should be like that too,” Ms. Eismont said.
The Press Secretary of Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that journalists from all over the world are invited to such talks – not only from the post-Soviet countries, but also, e.g., from Western countries.
“When people ask me about the duration of such events, I always say: journalists fly thousands of kilometres to see the President at an event with a single question. How can we not give them the opportunity to ask their question? Moreover, our President is a very experienced speaker. He has a very good sense of the audience and understands the importance of this work. He has always believed that it is extremely vital to be listened to and to be heard,” Ms. Eismont emphasised.
The Belarusian leader’s spokesperson assured that if anyone still has questions in the hall after four or five hours of conversation, the President will answer these questions no matter how tired he is.
“There was an innovation at the press conference in 2017. On the eve of the press conference, we opened online lines and collected questions from Belarusians and not only from them. Then, of course, we analysed them, selected the most popular and the most interesting ones, and the President also answered these questions. That’s why it was 7 hours and 20 minutes, not because someone wants to talk for that long without a break. It’s a very difficult but very important job,” Ms. Eismont said.
