MINSK, 15 March (BelTA) – I would like to take this opportunity and thank the people of Belarus for their support during the period critical for the country in the mid-1990s, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a meeting timed to the 30th anniversary of the Constitution of Belarus on 15 March, BelTA has learned.
The head of state recalled the situation in the country in the first years of independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. There was a fight for government positions; all conditions were created for the privatization of national wealth by Western capital.
"What were our chances to preserve our cultural, economic, political independence? The question is rhetorical," the Belarusian leader said. “Recalling that period, I once again want to thank our people. The people, who believed in us, the romantics. The people who supported us at the referendums. In the end, the people stopped the scenario of the permanent destruction of the nation and national statehood."
"The decisions made by the people reflected the essence of the historical moment which covered a third of a century. In the course of events, the Belarusians revealed the essence of their national character - reasonable, responsible, far-sighted," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.