News & Events in Belarus

Lukashenko: Belarus has been in a unique situation over the past 20 years

MINSK, 8 October (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko mentioned a unique geopolitical situation which has been created around Belarus in the past two decades as he spoke at the Minsk Dialogue Forum "European Security: Stepping Back from the Brink" in the Belarusian capital on 8 October, BelTA has learned.

“Belarus has been in a unique situation over the past two decades. On the one hand, Belarus is a military and political ally of our Russia, a member of the CSTO. No other country has such a level of relations with Moscow as Belarus. At the same time, our country has concluded international agreements on security and trust-building measures with all neighbors, including NATO member states. We are prepared to fill these agreements with new meaning and to improve them,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

In his words, the signals that the Belarusian side receives from partners demonstrate that they are prepared for such interaction. “This is a unique resource in the current situation. And all of us must use it. We, Europeans, must prove to ourselves and the whole world that the architecture of European security can be restored, that there can be a different model of relations between Russia and NATO, between China and the USA, and a different projection of it on Europe, different from the one that we have seen over the past five years,” the head of state said.

The president added that Belarus is doing its best to form this history of success in matters concerning regional security, the country will continue doing the same in the future regardless of any expectations. “We hear and see that some of them have doubts and regrets about what Belarus can or cannot do. Some of them just grin and say that it’s not up to us to solve certain issues,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. “We are not going to solve anything for anybody but for our own selves. We just suggest that we could gather together in this calm (for now) place and discuss our problems, other things.”

The head of state emphasized that Belarus is trying to do its best and will be doing it in the future. In his words, the country has everything for it. “Belarus’ location, centuries-old spiritual and cultural traditions of Belarusians, their peace-long nature and creative labor shape our position. Our history is also a cause: we have seen so many wars. And we did not initiate those wars, we often fought not only for ourselves,” the Belarusian leader stressed.

print version

make home page

add to bookmarks