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MINSK, 24 April (BelTA) – In his speech at a session of the 7th Belarusian People’s Congress Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made a few comments about what results the enmity of the Baltic states towards eastern neighbors and the rejection of the history of a great country have produced, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “Have many of our neighbors become stronger? For instance, the Baltic republics, which were so intent on becoming independent. Have they managed to become equal participants of the world political process? What do they influence today at all? They have lost everything the Soviet Union was proud of: ports, the fishing fleet, the manufacturing sector, energy security, transit, and tourism opportunities. They are on the downward spiral now. Even despite generous infusions from Brussels. The fight against Belarus and Russia costs too much. In 2023 the GDP of Lithuania and Latvia dropped by nearly 1%. The GDP of Estonia went down by as much as 3.5%.”
He stated that politicians in these countries are not very concerned about this situation: “Because ordinary citizens pay for it. Their earnings and wages are falling while prices and taxes are rising. Latvians and Lithuanians have lost over a third of the population over the years of their so-called independence.”
“The enmity of the Baltic states towards eastern neighbors has led to the rejection of the history of a great country. They have cut off themselves from a source of power. Whatever anyone may say but the Soviet period was the golden age of development for Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians. By the way, thanks to the Soviet state Poland and Finland became independent,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “And I’d like to note that in this history nobody has ever brought up facts of treachery and cooperation with the Nazi to criticize anyone. But these things happened during the course of their history. We tried to preserve their national dignity. But it turned out that they harbored a grudge all these years.”
According to the president, the Ukrainian regime repeated the same history: “Just think about it: a flourishing country with fertile soil that contains half of Mendeleyev’s periodic table, two seas, mines, and industrial giants. A creative and hardworking nation. Feel free to live, rejoice, and get rich. And they did get rich. Only a handful of them. According to the best traditions of Western European democracy. Oligarchs and people in power grabbed all the resources.”
“After acquiring the riches created by the nation the oligarchs started to desire power as well. It has always been like that and it will always be like that. They went into politics and got bandits and the people involved in their quarrels. Maidan revolutions followed. Then Western security agencies became involved and tensions around ethnic problems became more pronounced. Russia as well as Belarus were portrayed as enemies and as the reason behind sorrows and poverty of the population,” the president stated.
