Opinions & Interviews

Eismont comments on Medvedev’s response to Lukashenko’s words

Natalya Eismont. Archive photo

MINSK, 5 November (BelTA) - Aleksandr Lukashenko’s words about “the wars not ours” have been taken out of context, Belarus president's spokesperson Natalya Eismont said, RIA Novosti reports.

In an interview to the Khabar news agency the Belarusian leader recalled numerous past wars and said that “those wars were not ours but they brought us a lot of suffering.” Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev described this statement as strange. The Russian head of government said that it was unacceptable to cast a shadow on the feat of the ancestors, the heroes who defended their homeland. “Our fathers and grandfathers fought to defend our land. It is not somebody else’s wars. It is very strange for me to hear such words,” said Dmitry Medvedev.

According to Natalya Eismont, Aleksandr Lukashenko is aware of the Russian head of government’s response to the words about “others’ wars”.

“I must say that the response is very unexpected as the meaning of the statement was completely distorted,” the Belarus president's spokesperson said.

Natalya Eismont believes there is no need to explain the words “all those wars were not ours”.

“Everything is absolutely clear. Speaking about it, the president meant that both Belarus and Russia had had enough of fighting. Nevertheless, as long as this topic has been raised, I cannot but mention a few points,” she said.

Talking about the post-Soviet period, we should say that “it was Russia not Belarus who disavowed things, more than once,” Natalya Eismont noted. She added that she would not give any examples though she could.

“After so many ordeals in the past, our countries are bogged down in endless talks on oil, gas and even food products. I think that this is something that the Russian prime minister should find strange,” Natalya Eismont said.

She called upon Moscow and Minsk to address these issues rather than revisit the past.

Natalya Eismont stressed that “the main question that arises in connection with this discussion is: who needs to raise this topic today and why?” “What is the reason? Everyone knows our attitude to history. If you want to see how to honor the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland, you need to  come to Belarus! Someone just needs this seemingly transparent topic on the surface. Or maybe someone needs a new reason to bite. This is a rhetorical question for now,” she added.

As BelTA reported earlier, in the interview to the Khabar news agency the Belarusian head of state spoke about the independence of Belarus and Kazakhstan. “Today we solve these issues ourselves. We are in charge of our own destiny. The most important thing is that Belarus and Kazakhstan have always been under someone's control. Someone always oppressed us, tried to put us on our knees. This is especially true about Belarus. All those wars were not our wars. The Patriotic War of 1812 when Napoleon reached Moscow and made his way back through Belarus. Everything was looted, everything was destroyed. Then the First World War… What was left of Belarus was just a narrow strip of land. Part of the eastern provinces was taken over by Russia, while the lands up to Minsk went to Poland under the Treaty of Riga. Then was World War II, the Great Patriotic War for us. Belarus was completely wiped off the face of the earth. Those were not our wars, but we suffered a lot. We lost a third of our population in the last war. Those were mostly civilians. What were children, old people guilty of?” the president said in an interview.

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