MINSK, 11 February (BelTA) – An accelerated revision of the existing world order is taking place against the backdrop of the pandemic, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he addressed the 6th Belarusian People's Congress in Minsk on 11 February, BelTA has learned.
“They started dividing and destroying states,” the Belarusian leader said.
“The final year of the previous five-year plan was particularly tense. The pandemic left its mark on global economic processes and the labor market, many countries closed their borders and put their economies on hold, the unemployment rate skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. People, driven to despair, took to the streets to protest and started rioting. These lockdowns do not work, we already know this. People are enraged by the failure of national healthcare systems to respond to the rapid increase in caseloads,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
According to him, during the first wave of the pandemic it was not a problem to put the country under lockdown, close borders, shut down enterprises and put production on hold, but this would give rise to many other problems, up to food supply. “What are we going to eat? Do you remember me saying this phrase?” the head of state asked.
“Even then, this pandemic was not only a public health challenge, they began to use it as an economic tool, and today we already see it in politics. An accelerated revision of the existing world order, existing relationships is taking place amidst the pandemic. They started dividing and destroying states,” the Belarusian leader said.
