News & Events in Belarus

Lukashenko: It is not about power, I don't want the country to be cut into pieces

BARANOVICHI, 1 September (BelTA) – It is not about power. Alternative forces must not cut the country into pieces. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement on 1 September while talking about the situation in the country, BelTA has learned.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “I am concerned about only one thing: I want to protect something we've been building for a quarter of the century with our own hands. We've revived the country from ruins and the ashes.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that millions of people support him and he fears that if alternative forces rise to power, they will cut everything into pieces, they will start cutting these people and their children. “It is what I am concerned about. Not power the way some people say in Russia: Lukashenko is holding on to power with fingers that have gone blue. I don't want my country to be cut into pieces. I built this country on ruins of an empire. I don't want honest, decent people, who worked for it, to be cut. It will not be lustration as some say. It will be slaughter. It will be much worse than what happened in Ukraine,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Speaking about civil servants, who have quit their government jobs in favor of sitting on the opposition's so-called coordinating council, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that there are enough people of that ilk in any society. He noted he had always tried to treat them like a father would and supported them along their career tracks. “Then it seemed like the government is leaning or maybe has even fallen in some places. But not because he finally woke up or his mother opened his eyes for him. No. He saw that this government is likely to fall and it is necessary to rush and join another one. So he did. I've seen some cases like that over a quarter of the century. A small number because the government has always been firm but today in the virtual world it looked to them that the government was close to being beaten, this is why they can wipe their feet on Lukashenko,” the president said.

Some of the government officials have joined the so-called coordinating council and will be prosecuted for their actions as part of this body in line with the law, Aleksandr Lukashenko added. “A criminal case has been opened into attempts to seize power. They will be prosecuted and will not be able to hide anywhere,” he stressed. “There are some other people, whom we saw in time and forced to either quit or go into private business. They are making insincere posts somewhere, too.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko believes that some reporters have hyped too much about the situation in the country. In his opinion, they decided to quit their jobs in TV channels in advance and were only waiting to return. “You don't have to tell stories about someone getting offended, someone getting beaten. That's not the point. They knew for a long time what had to be done. They may act now. We've given them freedom,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.

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