MINSK, 26 January (BelTA) – I do not send signals to the West through pardoning convicts, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told the media in Minsk on 26 January, BelTA has learned.
According to the head of state, the self-exiled opposition, supported by sponsors, is strategically preparing for 2030, while waiting for a convenient moment, a chance. “If such an opportunity occurs, everything is ready for this abroad,” the president said. “They have everything ready - the military component - to enter [Belarus] and pull up NATO troops from Poland and Lithuania.”
“If the moment is ripe, with people showing their discontent and so on, they are ready to act. This is their tactics. Strategically they are preparing for 2030. Structures are being set up and financed for this,” the Belarusian leader added. However, panic has now gripped the ranks of the self-exiled opposition, because Donald Trump has announced about the reduction of programs and funding.”
“As far as political prisoners are concerned, do not believe anyone saying that someone pressured me, that it was self-exiled opposition. We do not have any relations with them at all,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. He explained that those who asked for pardon were pardoned first. Secondly, when making these decisions, the president proceeded from the principles of humanity. Among those pardoned there were elderly people with serious illnesses.
However, not everyone among the prisoners is ready to write a petition for pardon. “Well, everything is in your hands. Ask and we will consider it,” the head of state explained. He emphasized that there are no political prisoners in Belarus. “Those people have violated the Criminal Code. If anyone is interested, we can show the criminal cases and the articles of the law that have been violated,” the president said. “We release these people based on the principles of humanity, and not because someone wanted to.”
According to the president, there are also inquiries from foreign countries, particularly the United States, regarding their citizens who have been convicted. “We hear them. We are directly engaged in dialogue, without any mediation from among opposition members. I think that we are reasonable people, we'll come to an agreement. If they didn't kill or rape, we'll consider any application. But if they have grossly violated the Criminal Code, I can't do it,” said the head of state.
“I say it publicly: we do not use the pardoning process as a way of sending signals to the West. I don't give a damn about the West,” the head of state said. In the wake of the sanctions imposed by the West, Belarus really had to face some difficulties, he said, but the country has enough partners. As of today there are agreements with them to act together. But the West regularly demonstrates to the whole world that it easily abandons its allies.
“We have good relations with Russia. You can see that they have improved. We have good, friendly relations with China (they have always been that way), with other countries. Well, if they don't want to see me in Poland, I'll get by somehow, I'll survive,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
Or another example is Ukraine, where the attitude towards Belarus and its leader allegedly changed for the worse after the start of hostilities. “I know the opinion of the Ukrainian people about Belarus and the Belarusian president. The authorities want to portray me in a bad light. Some people believed the propaganda... But the time will come, they will figure it out who is right and who is wrong, and they will ask questions. But they have to shift the blame. On whom? Putin and Lukashenko, the two ‘aggressors’. Time will come and people will figure it our; who is wright or who is wrong,” the Belarusian leader said.
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