MINSK, 22 November (BelTA) – There were reasons to shut down the internet amid the events in August 2020, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said during a Q&A session titled “Open Microphone with the President” at Minsk State Linguistic University on 22 November, BelTA has learned.
The future of the country hang in the balance, the president stressed. If the country had not been held together then, it could have gone to war, among other things.
He recalled that Belarus faced many wars in its history and that the country was partitioned.
“My main duty is to protect the country. I realized then that the country would be destroyed. That was why I and my children took up guns then. It was my duty to protect the country. I had to restore order. They were lying that Lukashenko ran away, that Lukashenko was drunk, that Lukashenko was sick...” I knew back then that if my people and I didn't put up resistance, NATO troops would be here. They were already ready for this,” the head of state said.
Speaking about the upcoming election, Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized that he had come to the university not as part of his election campaign, but as president, noting that this meeting was planned long time ago.
The head of state was asked about the shutdown of the internet post-election, in 2020. "If this happens again, we will turn it off completely," Aleksandr Lukashenko replied briefly but succinctly. “Frankly speaking, this was almost always done with my permission, especially in the initial stages. When you have two problems, you start to weigh what is more important. Naturally, I saw further."
The future of the country hang in the balance, the president stressed. If the country had not been held together then, it could have gone to war, among other things.
"No one beat anyone. There was no one to beat. Belarusians are not such people. I understood where everything came from. It all was directed via the internet, first of all, from Poland. They published routes for protesters,” the head of state recalled. “I understood what we could have arrived at. War that could have been worse than in Ukraine."
He recalled that Belarus faced many wars in its history and that the country was partitioned.
“My main duty is to protect the country. I realized then that the country would be destroyed. That was why I and my children took up guns then. It was my duty to protect the country. I had to restore order. They were lying that Lukashenko ran away, that Lukashenko was drunk, that Lukashenko was sick...” I knew back then that if my people and I didn't put up resistance, NATO troops would be here. They were already ready for this,” the head of state said.
According to him, if the opponents had seized power, NATO troops would have been invited over to Belarus on the same day. “They would have advanced as far as the border with Russia. What would be the answer? How would Russia respond? A war would have broken out on our land. I understood all that. This was one side of the coin. I saw that the internet was actively used for this purpose - to show routes, give instructions where to attack and destroy,” the president said. “I understood that the country would be turned upside down! Everything was navigated through the internet. Do you think I would watch and hesitate to act when the country’s existence was threatened? You do not see it in the heat of the moment. I should always see it. Your parents elected me to do this. I made up the decision in order to save the country. We shut down the internet for an hour or two to disrupt the control over our society from outside. That was the main purpose of those actions. I chose the best of the worst.
Speaking about the upcoming election, Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized that he had come to the university not as part of his election campaign, but as president, noting that this meeting was planned long time ago.
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