MINSK, 25 February (BelTA) – The self-exiled opposition’s scenarios regarding Belarus are unrealizable, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told the media after he cast his vote in the parliamentary and local elections on 25 February, BelTA has learned.
Answering the journalists' question, the head of state pointed out that the ultimate goal of the self-exiled opposition in any of their scenarios is the same - a coup d'état and seizure of power. “It does not matter whether it is going to be a long or short game, the goal is the same - Belarus must be turned in the opposite direction. In order to do so, they first need to overthrow the current government. It will be very difficult, I am sure of this. Especially after the single voting day, the elections. We will elect reliable, intelligent people who understand what tasks our people are facing. Therefore, none of the scenarios, even the most radical one, will not work in Belarus,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The country has already drawn conclusions from the events of the past years, so there is absolutely no hope for them to implement their plans today, the president is convinced. “Nevertheless, they will be trying to undermine the situation here,” the head of state said. “They consider themselves strong and capable of big things. They view Belarus as a small dot on the map which needs to be erased in order to move closer to the east, to the resources, closer to Moscow. We understand this very well.”
According to the president, Belarus, together with Russia, is keeping in mind different scenarios and consider ways to counteract them. “We will always stay united with Russia. This is the only way we can resist any opponent,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “The world today is a force and understands only force. We cannot stay soft and keep fighting for democracy and some ephemeral freedom - you have seen what kind of ‘democracy’ they have.... We need to focus on our goals, our interests, be sincere and pursue a policy of justice. Then, it will be the unity of our people. Of course, we will have all kinds of critics. They are present in any society. All these scenarios are unrealizable. We all see it perfectly well. You do not even have to worry about anything in this respect.”
As for the recent increase in provocations and growing activity on the borders with Belarus on the part of its western neighbors, the journalists asked whether there was something that was not yet known to the general public. “In order for us to be able to produce counter measures, we need to keep people informed. Our society must be fully informed,” the head of state explained. He added that there was no aim to stir up tensions but, on the contrary, the authorities warn people to stay strong against provocations, to resist them. “If we hide something from you, we will not succeed [in terms of joint confrontation and preservation of peace and tranquility on the Belarusian land]. We inform you even about the most extreme scenarios,” the Belarusian leader said.
As an example, he cited a recent story when he spoke about the plans of the Belarusian self-exiled opposition to “defeat” Russia, to give the western territories of Belarus and Ukraine to Poland and to enlarge Belarus with Russian lands. “It was the talk between our self-exiled opposition and Americans and I took the quote directly from their conversation. I found it necessary to inform the society to show what they [self-exiled opposition] are worth of,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. Another example was their plans to seize a separate small settlement, Kobrin and Malorita were named in particular. “Capture a small town, declare power, everyone will recognize this authority that will turn to NATO, and troops will be brought in,” the president spoke about the plans of the Belarusian self-exiled opposition. “This is not a bluff. Such plans are being discussed. We are informing you on all fronts.”
As BelTA previously reported, at a large meeting with the senior staff of the national security agencies on 20 February, Aleksandr Lukashenko said that the self-exiled opposition and their foreign handlers from the intelligence services were working on three main scenarios of seizing power in Belarus.
The first scenario is the most desirable for them. This is the organization of a coup d'état or a violent seizure of power directly during the election campaign. “Yet, they assess it as unlikely. They do not yet see any real prerequisites for destabilizing the situation by analogy with 2020,” the head of state said.
The second scenario is the main one. “They will use the current election campaign as a rehearsal and initial stage to prepare for a coup d'état during the upcoming presidential election in 2025,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The third scenario is a reserve one, a so-called long game with extensive use of soft power instruments in case the first two scenarios fail. “In fact, this game has been on as long as sovereign Belarus has existed,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
