Opinions & Interviews
Lukashenko: Belarus will continue multi-vector foreign policy
MINSK, 30 October (BelTA) – Belarus will continue to pursue a multi-vector foreign policy, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with the personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, BelTA has learned.
The head of state touched on the situation in and around Belarus. "We understand the causes of this situation. It's not just because some NEXTA or other kids made some calls. You and I have become too comfortable living in a quiet, peaceful, clean country. We thought that was how it would continue. To be honest, I never thought so. I warned you ahead of the parliamentary elections: they will not let us live peacefully,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.
"You see this even now. Some people don't like our multi-vector policy. Even now I am being criticized for this," the Belarusian leader said.
“We have always pursued a multi-pronged foreign policy, and we will continue to do this. We cannot do otherwise. We are a geographical center of Europe. Russia should understand this very well, too,” the president said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said that Belarus has never turned its back on Russia, and will never do this. “I am telling this to the Russian leadership, too. If they treat us as a brother, a younger brother, protect and support us (as Putin did in this difficult period), we will never turn our back on the East and Russia. Our Russia. I do not know how you view this country. I see it as my Russia. We will never betray it,” the Belarusian leader stressed.
The Belarusian leader once again emphasized the special relations and the commonality of the peoples of Belarus and Russia. "Russia is ours, Russian people are our kindred people. We are absolutely no different from them. Indeed, we are two countries. These are two apartments (one large, the other smaller) where two families live though these families have one and the same roots. We will do everything that is beneficial for our people, without creating any problems for anyone. This is what the multi-vector policy is all about," the president said.
Regarding the relations between Belarus and the West or NATO, the president said: "When someone in Russia reproaches us for cooperating with them, I ask them a simple question: ‘Is Russia not cooperating with NATO? Is Russia not cooperating with the United States, with the European Union?’ She does, in her own interests. Is that not true? That's true. We have agreed with the Russian president that we will always be reliable friends and will always support for each other. Today we can see that Russia and Belarus, Putin and Lukashenko, have no other friends. You remember me saying (Russian mass media mocked me then) that time would come when together with the Russian president we will have to stand back to back and fire back. This has happened,” the president said.
“As for the West… Look, the technological West is close, right across the fence. We, however, have showed them that we are an independent and self-sufficient nation. We will not let anyone tell us what to do. We have shown our stance at every level. I even disclosed a part of my phone talk with the U.S. secretary of state yesterday (although I shouldn’t have done this),” the Belarusian leader said.
“I am saying this to everyone: even if we are left alone surrounded by enemies from all the sides, we will be fighting for our land to the last. I would like those who are trying to analyze the situation in the country today to mark my words,” the president said.
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