GRODNO, 24 August (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko called on Belarusians never to give their country away to anyone as he addressed a rally in Grodno on 22 August, BelTA has learned.
“Whether I am president or not, never give your country away to anyone. Keep your land, do not give it to anyone. It belongs to our children, they have nowhere else to look for land. No one will give it to them," the Belarusian leader stressed.
“The question is not about Lukashenko today. I have had enough of the presidency. But imagine for a moment the president is not Lukashenko. Who would command troops on the western border today? Who would the defense minister report to? We would not be the masters of our land. We would have been broken and left on the sidelines of history,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The president stressed that the external interference in the country's affairs is obvious. "Today we are being pushed into the abyss of discord and hatred," he said. “On the western border, they are restless, they are saber-rattling, they are threatening, and they are openly interfering in the internal affairs of our sovereign state. Some even, rubbing his hands (I know it for sure) have the designs on Kresy Wschodnie [Polish for Eastern Borderlands] where everything Belarusian was banned and rooted out mercilessly in the past. Now this is our land. The land of sovereign Belarus, where all nationalities that form the backbone of the Belarusian people live in peace and harmony. We should defend our land,” the president said.
“During my work I have traveled all over the world, I have seen different nations,” Aleksandr Lukashenko continued. “I have seen many peoples who have gone through color revolutions, they are still struggling and no one is helping them. They put nations on their knees first and then enslave them in a modern way, preferably without tanks and aircraft. They divide people first and then, without money, without any expenses, turn them in the direction they need,” the president said.
The president stressed that in Belarus these plans are seen by both authorities and ordinary citizens. “We, Belarusians, are well-educated people. Have all the misfortunes over the past century not been enough for us? Keep your land, do not give it away to anybody. It belongs not to you, not to us, but to our children. They have nowhere to go to look for land, nobody will give it to them,” the president said.
Photos by Leonid Shcheglov
