Lukashenko said he would not cancel the parade for ideological reasons
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will not cancel the May 9th parade. He announced this today at a meeting with medical professionals and virologists, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“The parade is not the most dangerous event from the point of view of epidemiologists and virologists. Because it will be organized as it should be,” Lukashenko said.
At the same time, he admitted that his decision still worries doctors.
“No matter how alarming this may be to the doctors present here, I must say that we cannot cancel the parade. We just can't. I thought about this for a long time. Of course, this is an emotional, deeply ideological thing. We must remember that those people died, perhaps from viruses and other diseases. But sometimes they didn’t feel it and didn’t think about it. And they died for us, no matter how pathetic it may sound. And think what people will say. Maybe not immediately, a day or two after this, they will say that they were scared,” Lukashenko said.
He ordered “not to drag anyone” to the parade.
“People don’t want to, they’re afraid, they’re taking care of their health - we’ll understand that. There are enough people today - thousands and thousands of people want this event to take place. There are few participants in the war, and we must take care of them. They understand this, even though they were the first to request to be brought to this event. They are already over 90. Let's think about what to do with them. I stick to my old tactics: the elderly must be protected. We all see that these infections, first of all, cling to the elderly, although young people also get sick,” Lukashenko said.
Belarus is the only country that has not refused to hold the parade on May 9. Meanwhile, two parade rehearsals in the center of Minsk were canceled this week. According to rumors, due to identified cases of coronavirus infection in the honor guard company.
Lukashenko said he would not cancel the parade for ideological reasons.