MINSK, 25 June (BelTA) – There are attempts by foreign powers to influence the presidential election and domestic affairs of Belarus, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he announced new appointments on 25 June, BelTA has learned.
Commenting on the current developments in the country, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the ‘appalling canards' circulating on the internet seek to discredit the authorities. Some of such hoaxes cause dismay, the president said. “They have told me today (though this story appeared a long time ago, but no one told me about it before) that one of my sons keeps $840 million in Switzerland. Send a letter there using diplomatic channels - those who want to take this money, can do it right away,” the president said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized that the information was simply falsified and people who are not well-versed in banking documents, believe these bogus stories. “People just do not understand what it is. Such fakes will pop up all the time. We should keep it in mind, live with it and fight against it. By the way, such stories are made up by Babich's people, Nezygar-type sources from Russia. This does not originate here, it is coming from Russia. They will apologize afterwards and remove the news, but these hoaxes have already reached people's minds,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
“As for the military and the security personnel who allegedly left their work and posted pictures of their IDs online saying that they are against the government, this is absolutely nonsense. If someone leaves the Security Service, they should turn in their weapons and IDs first; it is impossible to keep an ID even for an hour after leaving the job. People, especially the youth, who read them [Telegram channels] do not understand it. They believe that people even in the Security Service are against the president. We have to learn to live with this kind of fake news. However, we should stay calm and explain to people what is going on,” the president said.
The head of state noted that the government's opponents demand fair elections, but they themselves are behaving unfairly. “Are they trying to provoke us to act unfairly? How are they acting? It is clear that they are manipulated by wire-pullers who are from both sides - Poland and Russia. We will talk about it with President Putin soon when we meet; this situation is very complicated. The most advanced falsification technology is used. We are witnessing foreign interference in out election and domestic affairs,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
“We are not a nuclear state. We cannot brandish nukes or say that we will use supersonic weapons to respond. We are an average European state, a peaceful and peace-loving country. We just cannot threaten anyone in this situation,” the president added.
