MINSK, 9 August (BelTA) – Integration associations world inefficiently during the pandemic and not only then, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko told the media after he cast his ballot in the 2020 Belarus' presidential election on 9 August, BelTA has learned.
“Nationalism and national interests prevailed and continue to prevail,” the president said commenting on the activity of integration associations in general.
In his words, the situation with the pandemic was the most telling one. “They worked really bad. Everyone closed up and tried to get out of it separately. This situation is not the most difficult one if compared with the things the integration associations might face in the future. I told you three months ago. This disease is the most simple thing. There will be confrontation. Strong states will use the pandemic for their interests. We should acknowledge that there was some cooperation at the level of healthcare associations. People from outside helped more however. Let us take the People's Republic of China, western countries helped a lot. The matter is not about Belarus. Thanks God we coped with the pandemic without anyone's help. The pandemic showed that we should rely on ourselves only,” the head of state said.
