Opinions & Interviews
Lukashenko slams Lithuania and Latvia's policy toward Belarus
BARANOVICHI DISTRICT, 11 September (BelTA) - The policy of the Baltic states toward Belarus can be described as shooting themselves not even in the foot anymore, but in the ear, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told the media as he visited the Obuz-Lesnovsky combined-arms military training ground on 11 September, BelTA has learned.
During the head of state’s conversation with journalists, the topic turned to the Latvian government's plans to impose a 300% duty on grain from Belarus and Russia. In addition, Latvia plans to suspend bus service with Belarus, and a similar proposal is being voiced in Lithuania. In this connection, the president was asked what Belarus’ response to such steps might be.
“We never really got too upset about the Baltic states... We will go on living. The main thing is that they [the governments of the Baltic states] don’t go berserk. There’s no need to go berserk the way they do," Aleksander Lukashenko said. “They'll push things to the point where the communists come to power. they are shooting themselves not in the foot anymore. they are shooting themselves in the ear.”
In this connection, he drew attention to the fact that Lithuania, together with Latvia and Estonia, is building an “eastern wall” on the borders with Belarus and Russia, which will require enormous funds. “It is clear they want to get more money. What they should is squeezing money for the population, to do something for the people, rather than building an ‘eastern wall’. Well, they built it. We thank them. They will be the ones who have to get over that wall if they ever try to attack us. We are not planning to go there; we don’t need to get over it. They just cannot seem to understand this. What nonsense they are up to! Let them spend their money if they have nowhere else to invest it,” the Belarusian leader said.
Commenting on the Latvian government's plans to impose duties on grain, the president noted that Belarus does not sell it to Latvia anyway. “Well, they will impose duties of 300% or 1000%... We couldn’t care less, because we never sold grain to Latvia in the first place,” he stated. “If we needed to sell wheat, we would sell it through Ust-Luga, Murmansk, or we would take it somewhere else. But the point is that we don’t sell it.”
Moreover, as the head of state pointed out, there is no sense in selling grain in its raw form, since it is more profitable to process it domestically. “Anyone who sells grain is completely brainless. Unless we are talking about food-grade grain. Russia does sell food-grade wheat. It would be a crime to feed it to livestock. Food-grade wheat should be sold as prices are decent right now. We produce very little of this food-grade wheat, just enough for ourselves,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. “Everything else we 'process' into milk and meat, and that is in great demand on the market.”
The head of state separately commented on Latvia’s intention to suspend bus service with Belarus: “Let them. Who even goes there? They have already put almost the entire population of Belarus under sanctions. Either way, we donэt go there. If someone does go there... God be with them, let them impose sanctions against them.”
Returning to the question of the possible consequences of such a policy for Western countries, Aleksandr Lukashenko cited the example of Germany, where the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party confidently won the elections to the state parliament (Landtag) of Saxony-Anhalt, gaining 43.8% of the vote. This figure became the best result in AfD’s history in German regional elections. The party managed to double its support compared to the previous elections five years earlier.
“The German government is beginning to crumble. They wanted democracy? Well, democracy is what they are getting. They will push things to the point where the people will throw them out of their seats and restore normal life in Europe,” the president is convinced. “Germany is a high-tech nation. What does it need? Raw materials! It needs to look more toward the east. Not the way the fascists once looked, but through cooperation, as it always used to be. And as the AfD proposes. That is the path to follow.”
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