MYADEL DISTRICT, 2 August (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko promised to protect Riga's Academy KidsTV children and their families as he spoke to the media in Myadel District on 2 August, BelTA has learned.
The head of state said that children from this academy addressed him unexpectedly with a request to answer their questions: “I saw a company of kids, and decided to answer their questions quickly.”
“They started bullying, pressurizing people, children. That is the democracy of their kind. We will do everything necessary for these children and for these families. We will do everything they need. They do not ask us for money or housing,” the president said.
The only thing they asked is to expedite the procedures for them to get the Belarusian citizenship. “We do not have any problems with this. Of course, we will protect these families and these children. Let them come. These are good kids. We have enough space. They will work here. They are future journalists. We will teach them, buy necessary equipment. Let the people who seem to have suffered because of us think well of us,” said the president.
As BelTA reported, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko talked to journalists of the Riga Children's Academy of Radio and Television before the opening ceremony of the international festival of arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk on 14 July.
The young journalists were waiting for the head of state at the Summer Amphitheater as the president was going to open the festival. Aleksandr Lukashenko arrived for the ceremony and was heading to the stage.
"Good afternoon! How are our neighbors doing?" the head of state asked.
Nadezhda Bukharova, the head of the group and the founder of the academy, replied: "Well, let's see how we are doing... You are well aware of how things are. We don't know what will happen to us when we come back home," she said.
"Well, stay then," Aleksandr Lukashenko suggested.
"This is what we want. We are already networking," Nadezhda Bukharova replied.
It was the second engagement of the Belarusian president and the students of the academy. The first one took place before the opening of Slavianski Bazaar in 2011. Then it was not only the head of state who answered journalists' questions, but also his son Nikolai who was very young at that time.
Indeed, Nadezhda Bukharova's fears were justified. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Security Service of Latvia started an inquiry into the trip of the young journalists to Belarus. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics went even further by saying that the academy might be closed. “Due to the gross disregard for the travel safety recommendations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and participation in the information warfare, the activities of such organizations are unacceptable and should be stopped,” he said. In turn, the State Security Service of Latvia opened a treason probe against the children and their teachers.
