‘Why USSR collapsed?’ Lukashenka's press conference for Russian journalists


Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka is giving a press conference for the Russian regional mass media on 17 November. Belsat.eu has picked out the brightest moments of it for our readers:

Threadbare stability mantra

Belarus has never been a troublemaker in Europe. Moreover, it is one of the islands of stability on the planet today <…>

“Do you remember eating shrimps from Belarus in the Soviet times?!”

In this challenging time, Belarusians and Russians need to stick together, be strong, command respect, and defend interests together. We have one big achievement – peace and stability. We must at all costs protect this heritage. So that we do not have to spill blood protecting the peaceful lives of people, as it happens in many places. Sadly, this is what happens in a very close and dear country, in Ukraine. We have shared pain and glory, and common future. You will never be strangers in Belarus. <…>

Limping integration

Much has been done, but there is certain stagnation, and for this you criticize us. But there are objective reasons for this. 20 years ago we were probably too romantic. When we began to study specific issues, it turned out it was not all that easy. <…>

We have not created a single parliament, unified government, which we once aspired to do and which was spelled out in the Treaty. We have not held a referendum on the constitution as we were going to. And it was not through the fault of Belarus. <…>

How can we compete when the economic entities have been operating in unequal conditions? The difference is enormous. To compete on your market, on our common market, we have to cut down on all our expenditures, including wages. Because of that, the taxes are lower, the military whose work is to protect our common space are paid less, and so on. <…>.

Lukashenka: 20 years ago we dreamt of luring Ukraine into the Union State. But we are where we are.

We tend to isolate ourselves and confine ourselves within our borders. I don’t think that’s right particularly for Belarus and Russia. Our economies are mutually complementary. They don’t compete with each other in many areas. We shouldn’t be on the defensive and shouldn’t build some fences. From time to time we have conflicts over supplies of certain Belarusian products. We know who is behind it. And a wave of discreditation starts, they say, we [Russia] introduces an embargo, and they [Belarus] bring shrimp in our country! But it was as far back as the Soviet times when we started to supply you with herring and shrimp!

‘Mother Russia’

“Moscow has never been and will never be a foreign place to me and to any other Belarusian,” the Belarusian leader said. The President emphasized that a lot has been already done for the creation of the Union State.

[About the Russian flag carried by the Belarusian sport functionary Andrei Fomochkin during the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro]: “I felt disappointment because they didn’t do it the way it should have been done and joy because the spare flag was available. We wanted to demonstrate that we absolutely support Russia against the illegal and wrong pressure exercised by certain forces upon the Russian Federation.

New U.S. president

Everybody is whining now that a wrong person has been elected. But I say he is just the man! He will pursue a pro-American policy for sure. He is a hardline pro-American citizen, who will put America first. We should start thinking about our place in this policy. He is a new man. He has no commitments to you or me. He has promised nothing. <…> We should channel efforts into resolving domestic problems — in Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. They are abundant. If our government agencies put their back into resolving them, we will be able to greatly bolster the domestic economies, which will surely reflect positively on the state of foreign policy. We should strengthen our foundation. Then it will be easier for us to talk to America and other countries.

Kaliningrad part of Belarus in Soviet times?

Lukashenka: In the Soviet times Kaliningrad was close to being part of Belarus!

We are ready to do everything necessary for Kaliningrad region. We do not view Kaliningrad region as some foreign area. We do not lay any claims for Kaliningrad to be made part of Belarus. We do not need this. It is much easier to establish the relations which can be as close as those with the lands within the state.

Justice for patriots

Some people say that Belarusians are patriots. They want to know how we nurture patriotism. We do not do anything special. People will always be the patriots of their country if they know that it is their land, and that they will be happy, that their children will live in this country. A just society is needed for it. “I will not say that we have already created it. But we are doing our best for it. Justice is the main thing. People cannot be hurt. If a person is dissatisfied with the government and the state of affairs in the country, he will never be a patriot. He has nothing to protect and will lose nothing. This is the essence of this patriotism.

Lack of detergents as trigger of revolutions

Now Belarus and Russia should take a look at the very important things that people need in order to live well. Then people will be patriots and no color revolutions will be able to unseat us. But if we fail to take care of that, then, powered by the frenzied democracy of today’s world, people will unseat us without color revolutions. There were difficult times when many goods, for instance, washing powder, were in very short supply in the Soviet Union. We should take care of matters, which are important for the daily lives of our citizenry. We should bear in mind errors of the Soviet Union and provide the population with everything it needs.

Belarusization? No Russian language is in our soul!

‘Some people whine that soft Belarusization is in progress in Belarus. But what should be there, Germanization?!’

Belarusian soul is in the Russian language. We have lived together for a very long period of time, speaking one language, putting our soul and our values in it. It is our common language, our greatest asset. Half of the Belarusian government are Russians. We have no such problems. There are no religious and interethnic conflicts in Belarus. We are proud of it.

Ukraine-Russia conflict

I have recently told Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] that it is needed to do something to start a reverse process and restore the relations. There will be no winners in that war. It is needed to improve the situation today. We are ready to play any role to restore peace there. The people staying there are suffering more than anybody else. How are these people to blame. Of course, it is terrible to wait for something to explode nearby. But uncertainty is even worse. These people do not know what will happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

belsat.eu, following BelTA

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