MINSK, 15 March (BelTA) – I suggest we leave the list of civil society actors in Belarus open-ended for now, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a meeting timed to the 30th anniversary of the Constitution of Belarus on 15 March, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that earlier the concept of "civil society" and everything that goes with it was pegged to the Western understanding of civil society. "You understand who they saw as part of he civil society. At one time, I strongly suggested that we make up our minds. Civil society is a normal concept. But the main thing is what we mean by it. At the moment, we have made up our minds. We gave an opportunity to representatives of civil society to be active builders of our state and the entire social structure of our country," the president said.
The head of state recalled that the debates on this issue were especially heated during the discussion of the amendments to the Constitution.
"But is this issue closed or not? I don't think so. We don't need to decide on it. Perhaps new actors of civil society will emerge in the future. Given the current state of affairs, we are in no hurry to close this issue today. So let's leave it open for now. The time will come when we will finally make up our minds, if necessary," the Belarusian leader said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that earlier the concept of "civil society" and everything that goes with it was pegged to the Western understanding of civil society. "You understand who they saw as part of he civil society. At one time, I strongly suggested that we make up our minds. Civil society is a normal concept. But the main thing is what we mean by it. At the moment, we have made up our minds. We gave an opportunity to representatives of civil society to be active builders of our state and the entire social structure of our country," the president said.
The head of state recalled that the debates on this issue were especially heated during the discussion of the amendments to the Constitution.
"But is this issue closed or not? I don't think so. We don't need to decide on it. Perhaps new actors of civil society will emerge in the future. Given the current state of affairs, we are in no hurry to close this issue today. So let's leave it open for now. The time will come when we will finally make up our minds, if necessary," the Belarusian leader said.
