MINSK, 6 May (BelTA) - The war for the minds and hearts, for the heads of our people has already begun, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a solemn assembly to mark the 80th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War in Minsk on 6 May, BelTA has learned.
“In Stalingrad [the modern name of the city is Volgograd] I said that in order for them [opponents abroad] to unleash a war against us, they need first of all to take away our memory and heads. As soon as they do it (maybe it will be after me), there will be a new war. That is why we are fighting today. This war has already begun. But this is a modern-time war. It began in the media. This is a war for the minds and hearts, for the heads of our people. This war has begun and we are fighting it today. Thank God, we have been coping so far,” the head of state said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko added that recently the topic of the 80th anniversary of the Victory has been significantly actualized and is spoken a lot about. “Why? Because they [adversaries] are preparing for war. It is already on our borders. I do not want to scare you. Don't worry, there will be no war tomorrow. But why should our Slavic neighbor spend billions of US dollars on weapons? Well, why do you need these weapons, why do you spend such money and leave your own people living in poverty, if you are not going to fight? It is a rhetorical question,” the president said.
“They want to take away our memory today. They want to take the heads of our youth first of all. They cannot take away our heads. Our heads are filled with the memory of the Great Victory. They are reaching out to young people. I won't say that it doesn't work. They are succeeding somewhere. Our whole society, however, is more monolithic and united today than ever before. Having lived through the year 2020, we have realized a bit what could have happened. Seeing what is happening in the south, in our brotherly Ukraine, we understand how terrible is the fate of this war. We must not allow it,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The head of state is confident that if we manage to survive the fight for the minds and hearts, primarily of children and young people, we will be able to do without a hot war. “We will not be able to win the hearts and minds of our young people without the systematic work that we are doing today (with mistakes, shortcomings, of course). Youth today, as everyone says, is very good. But this is not the youth that you were - brought up and raised in labor. Our youth is different. There are wonderful people who understand how to live. There are, however, as I often say, who believe that phones and iPhones grow bananas and potatoes. The face of our society is changing, people are changing. Our approaches are changing, too. What remains unchanged is faith and devotion to the people who have accomplished a feat in our name,” the president said.
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