Opinions & Interviews
Lukashenko to Izvestia: Belarusians will not tolerate politician who decides to undermine sovereignty
MINSK, 25 October (BelTA) -Belarusians will not tolerate a politician who decides to undermine the country’s sovereignty, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, BelTA learned.
"I have always insisted that the house - if we imagine the Union State as a house - must rely on the foundation. What is the foundation of our relations? Economy. Therefore, we need to build the economic basis of the union. The second thing (this is my strong belief) is that we have a common fatherland from Brest to Vladivostok. You can't do anything about it. This is how it has been for decades, centuries," Aleksandr Lukashenko said. "It so happened, through no fault of ours, that there are two states in this space. Two sovereign states: Belarus and huge Russia. This is the law of our time."
"Therefore, any speculations about empire, satellites and so on... Try walking in my shoes. Would you, being the president of a sovereign (I am not saying independent as we depend on each other) state, destroy this state tomorrow? I cannot do this and no one has given me such powers. This is the first thing. Secondly, Belarusians will not tolerate any politician who decides to undermine the country’s sovereignty," the Belarusian leader stressed.
He assured that Belarusians are the most loyal and reliable people for Russians. “There are no more loyal, frank and honest people in the world, and there is no need to look for them elsewhere. I am a seasoned politician, and I know it for sure,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “I am a politician who does not cling to power. It is not, however that I do not care whether I will be in power or not. I'm thinking more about children now, about your and our children. We should develop our cooperation in this direction.”
The president emphasized that it is impossible to put questions in such a way that “you are smaller and we are bigger, and we have a bigger economy, we will help you and you need to be part of Russia”. “This is impossible and unrealizable. I am even afraid to say that it might mean a war. You see the relations between me and Putin. We hold regular talks, personal and other meetings. Russia has never raised such a question. Well, there are some people in the Russian leadership that voice certain ideas. But this is empty talk,” the head of state emphasized. “Why would we need this? I often say that Putin and I are wise people. We have enough experts to build the relations in the Union State that will be closer and stronger than in a unitary state. No one’s angry, no one’s hurt. We need such relations.”
In this regard, the president noted that the world has changed. It is not the Middle Ages when it was possible to seize this or that territory without consequences. "You can conquer a country but what is next? Let's say, Ukraine is conquered by Russia. What is next? When making a step, an intelligent wise politician should always think about his next steps. That is why Putin has never set a goal to conquer. He often talks about it," Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “We often discuss this issue. Can such a huge country be seized without any consequences? No. We do not want a partisan movement there, committing terrorist acts against us and Russia. They will certainly do it. Why? Because they will be encouraged to do so. They will get explosives anytime they want. It means at least acts of terrorism. So, that is the world today. It is not the Middle Ages where you seize a territory, get taxes and all is fine. The world has changed; it is different. This is why it is not necessary to set ridiculous goals for oneself. One should always think about what will happen later.”
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