ORSHA, 28 August (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko answered a number of questions asked by reporters in Orsha, Vitebsk Oblast on 28 August. Among other things he talked about his taking the first presidential oath under a white-red-white flag, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “You shouldn't criticize me for it. A smart person would say that a president abides the law. That flag was established by the Supreme Council. We didn't vote for this symbol but the majority accepted it under pressure of our nationalist members of the parliament. No conspiracies. I couldn't do otherwise then. I had to be the president for all, I had to abide the law. So, I did it.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko also mentioned the pressure members of the parliament are experiencing today. He stressed the government will be able to protect them. “They've tried and see that the president is too tough for them. Now they are trying to break the parliament. They are trying to scare and are bullying [MPs]. We know who is doing it and we will sort them out. The president is above the branches of power in order to control and protect. And I will be able to protect the parliament in a way they can't even think about,” he stated.
Going back to the matter of the state symbols, the president remarked that the majority of citizens had voted for the present Belarusian state symbols at a referendum and he takes pleasure in using them. “The nation has spoken in favor of these symbols. But that flag, you can see: portraits of Adolf Hitler and white-red-white flags hanging all around him.”
The head of state stressed that Belarusians hold in high regard the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. It is the greatest accomplishment of the nation, Aleksandr Lukashenko stated. “Should Belarusians return to what existed in the years of fascism? How many people of ours were killed under this flag? How many Russians, Belarusians, Jews, Tatars perished here? And all of them under that flag. We cannot blame the flag but it was exploited. This is why let's stay far away from it. We have good symbols, we should use those,” the Belarusian leader is convinced.
