News & Events in Belarus

MINSK, 29 January (BelTA) – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has declared that he will stick to the welfare state concept during his entire term in office. Alexander Lukashenko made this statement during the meeting with journalists on 29 January, BelTA has learned.

“The model we have been pursuing so far will not be abandoned. We called it a socially-oriented development model, where a human being is all-important. I will stick to it as long as I am president. We have discovered this model, we have brought it into being, we have chosen our way and we need to follow it firmly, in particular in the time of crisis,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

The President stated that the pursuit of changes is natural; it is in the blood of the humankind and individual communities. “However, being the head of state responsible for millions of people, including indirectly our neighbors, I have no right to succumb to such emotions. I would also want changes, I can surprise by any model. However, are you ready to digest this model? Is the society ready for overwhelming transformations that can be put forward by politicians, including me? I think, not always,” he emphasized.

The head of state reminded about the economic situation in Belarus after the collapse of the USSR, when food stores were empty, when people were given food tokens, but could not exchange them for food. “We have been restoring our economy little by little since that time. The best of what we inherited from the Soviet Union got a new lease of life, because we had no other assets. There were many reformists who urged to do the same as Russia did and Ukraine is doing. However, we have grown smart; many have come to understand that it would not be right to opt for that landslide privatization, because this would have given birth to oligarchic capitalism, with all its consequences,” Alexander Lukashenko emphasized.

In his words, economic revival was not smooth and easy; some problems still persist. “However, they were not caused by us. If you are objective, you understand that the current state of things and the past crisis came from outside. By the way, the world has not emerged from the crisis yet. It is true, America is breathing again now; China is more or less fine, too. The rest are not there yet. We got a new problem – the crisis in the neighboring states with which we have history-long economic and financial ties,” the President noted.