Opinions & Interviews
Lukashenko to teachers: We are masters of our own country and should be afraid of no one
MINSK, 27 August (BelTA) – Belarusians are masters of their own country and should be afraid of no one. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the relevant statement during the Nationwide Conference on Teaching on 27 August, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed: “We are masters of our own country. You and I endured in 2020. And we should be masters. We should be afraid of no one.”
There should be no concerns, for instance, about becoming part of election commissions: “You get to hold the power in your hands. Who will you give it away to? The president makes decisions, you say… I cannot make the decisions that you are supposed to make. This is why there is no need to be afraid of anyone. If you become afraid, you will be oppressed once again,” Aleksandr Lukashenko warned. “The future is in our hands. This is why seize the power in this country and act. My job is to guide you and make hints for you while you move forward.”
The head of state stressed that the current generation (most of the conference participants are people of the current generation) will have to decide the country’s fate in the future. “You will carry it [Belarus] in your hands tomorrow,” the president remarked. “You will have to decide on matters of the border, the war, peace, agriculture, and the manufacturing sector. I want you to feel it deep in your soul that you will have to do it.”
“But today if you and I don’t do [what I’ve previously mentioned], then things will be the way they are in Ukraine. Once again I am not trying to scare you. I am warning you,” the president explained. He added that he had warned Belarusians about possible consequences during the coronavirus pandemic when upon Aleksandr Lukashenko’s insistence Belarus chose its own way (which turned out to be absolutely right) although the country was criticized for it.
“I can see what will happen tomorrow. I can see what may happen. In addition to paying attention we should wake up and take care of our kids, so that they would come to schools as they would come to a temple. I want them to feel the thrill just the way kids felt after the war,” the president pointed out problems of raising the young generation. “They always appreciated it.”
The president is convinced that many of the people, who criticize young Belarusians, should notice that the young people are just like the current generation is. “Our young people are smart enough to understand and accept what we talk about. We just shouldn’t lie to them that they are ideal people,” the head of state said. “We have to make young Belarusians understand that nothing can be achieved without work.”
For instance, Aleksandr Lukashenko drew attention to a significant number of people without employment. Sincerely speaking, they are good for nothing. Meanwhile, there are plenty of job openings on the market and the demand for specialists is high. The president remarked that there is too much democracy in Belarus and it allows people to work when they want and not to work when they do not want it. “I want to directly ask you: is it pleasant for you to see people, who don’t do anything and yet live a better life? Is it normal? Is it okay? Then it is up to us to resolve the problem [of the unemployed],” the head of state stressed.
The president pointed out to an existing correlation between children’s upbringing in schools, their education, and their consequent fate and the role in the life of the native country. “Those, who complain about being poor today, did not study well in school. Some poor folks work so hard to get an education and aspire to something. Well done. But the complainers did not study hard. They couldn’t care less for teachers and principals,” the head of state gave an example. “We should take measures. Don’t wait for hints about which ones.”
The president remarked that many of the self-exiled opposition members, who left Belarus after 2020, already understand the hopelessness of their actions and want to go back to Belarus. They have come to realize that nobody needs them abroad and they can claim only unskilled jobs. “Teachers and medics become dishwashers. Who will give them good jobs? The best jobs in these countries? There are plenty of locals lining up for the jobs over there,” Aleksandr Lukashenko explained. Competition on the labor market has only grown stronger due to Ukrainians, who flee the war. A special commission has been set up to consider applications from Belarusians willing to return to the home country. “They are our kind of people after all… They may have become smarter. You will tell them and you should understand it yourselves that your roots are in this land,” the president stressed. Meanwhile, the government will continue the policy of maintaining discipline and order, the head of state assured.
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