MINSK, 20 May (BelTA) – Today's event is of high importance to me and I would like to thank you for coming, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with activists of Belarus' pioneer organization on 20 May to mark the 100th anniversary of the pioneer movement, BelTA has learned.
In response to the pioneers' gratitude for the opportunity to meet, Aleksandr Lukashenko said that it was not him who should be thanked, and added that it was he who was grateful to the pioneers that they organized themselves and came to the meeting with the president.
“I say this sincerely: it is not me who needs to be thanked. Politicians are shrewd. That is why, I said that, unfortunately, this was the first time I was meeting the pioneers and I should have done this long ago. I should thank you for coming to me because now I will have this page in the history of my presidential life. I can later say to the youth, when you grow up, that I have met with the pioneers. This meeting is very important for me,” the head of state said.
The Belarusian leader emphasized that it was important for him to meet with the members of the pioneer movement in order to hear their opinion and pay attention to how they influence the public life of the country.
“It is very important for me to meet and listen to you. After all, you are head and shoulders above the pioneers of my time. You are completely different from us at that age. You are so smart, advanced, and literate. But I am not going to overpraise you, you still lack a lot. Life has changed greatly. You are mostly urban people. And village people after all do not differ much from those living in the city - there is no difference between you any more. Before it was easy to tell the difference between youth living in villages and cities. Now there is almost no difference,” the president said.
He emphasized the great importance of the fact that pioneer traditions were preserved in Belarus. The other former Soviet countries have destroyed and replaced them by other public organizations. “We have preserved our pioneer movement. It was my initiative not to forget about the Oktiabrionok movement as well. When I became President, the question arose about the future of this organization. I said back then that we needed to preserve it as children learned to be organized and live in a society. This is the main goal of such organizations,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
