Lukashenko promised to be with Russia, but to live in a separate apartment
Belarus will not reorient itself towards the West after the annexation of Crimea to Russia; Minsk intends to maintain an alliance with Moscow, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in a message to parliament.
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“If, God forbid, something happens, Belarus will be shoulder to shoulder with Russia. This is our ally. Let me give you an example: remember how they bombed in Iraq? They allegedly found nuclear weapons and hanged Saddam Hussein. The whole world knew that this was unfair, that the United States of America was doing wrong. But all of Europe and NATO countries lined up and supported America because they are allies. Everyone should know: we have been together with Russia and always will be. And there should be no idle talk in connection with Crimea, about Belarus’s alleged tilt and turns somewhere,” the state agency Belta quotes him as saying.
“You should be calm: today we have plans to raise and arm half a million Belarusians if the situation escalates. And this is sufficient force to resist any plans,” the president noted.
“Some are starting to bait: they say that Lukashenko will not be at the parade in Moscow on May 9, he will supposedly do this to please the West with an eye to the presidential elections. What stupidity! The Russian leadership and I clearly agreed: there are two countries left in the world that sacredly honor the Great Victory. We agreed: Belarus has its own parade and ceremonial events, so the President must be in the country with his people on May 9. And no one can replace him in this; the commander-in-chief must host the parade. We will arrive in Moscow on May 8 and properly celebrate the Victory Day,” added Lukashenko.
According to him, Belarus does not consider it necessary to pursue a nationalist policy.
“We don’t have enough people in the country, we need to have at least 20 million people. Why are we going to pursue wild nationalist policies? To expel from the Belarusian land people who were born here or their parents were born here? This is utter nonsense!” - said the president.
“You know, they often say: listen, what are you doing, we are Russian people... This does not mean that we are Russians. We, Belarusians and Russians, are Russian people, this is how it has developed in our everyday life. But about this “Russian world” I want to say the following frankly. Belarus was the first in the post-Soviet space to give the Russian language the status of a state language along with Belarusian. We highly value the great Russian culture and do not separate it from ours, we are part of this culture. Russian people have invested a lot in Belarusian culture and in ensuring that we even have this national culture. But Belarusians have also made a strong mark in Russian culture. It's hard to break it all down. Unlike many former Soviet republics, Russian people in Belarus are full citizens who are not offended or oppressed by anyone on ethnic or religious grounds...
We must understand: Belarus is a sovereign independent state. Of course, we are closely connected with the Russian people, we are brothers, but we want to live in our own apartment in the same multi-story building. If someone believes (not only in Russia, but also in other places) that we can be deprived of this, then I will say - never. We are an independent state, which does not create problems for anyone and will not create them,” Lukashenko summed up.
Lukashenko promised to be with Russia, but to live in a separate apartment.