MINSK DISTRICT, 23 March (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko is the strongest supporter of the country's sovereignty and independence. He made the relevant statement as he visited the Minsk Leather Production Association in Gatovo, Minsk District on 23 March, BelTA has learned.
“We've always had good times and bad times. I've told you that independence costs a lot. But it is unlikely any one of you will want to sell out, to become part of some other country. And I don't want it most of all. Because I am the first president of this state, which you and I shaped together with these hands,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated.
He mentioned commemorative events, which took place in the WW2 memorial Khatyn the other day. Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed the hardships and horrors that people faced during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. “I stood in Khatyn and thought: poor people! They were minding their own business in this village in the middle of nowhere when all of a sudden scumbags came, surrounded them, herded them into a barn and set it on fire. It was a catastrophe.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out that not only German troops but collaborationists participated in punitive operations. “It was a catastrophe. Here you are, living in this village with your kids. Germans were killed somewhere and then they came and slaughtered and burned down the entire village. Where could these poor wretches flee to? That was a problem. And we should remember it,” the president said.
