MINSK, 4 October (BelTA) – In an interview with CNN Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko talked about who he considers opposition leaders and whether they exist in Belarus, BelTA has learned.
In his question, the journalist mentioned the meeting of the U.S. president with Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. In response, the president refused to discuss “the female persona”. “I don't fight with women. And I don't want to characterize her in any way,” he said. He noted that Tikhanovskaya asked the head of state to take her to the border with Lithuania, although the self-exiled opposition are trying to present everything differently, as if she fled from persecution.
“Tikhanovskaya was not fleeing anywhere. She asked me to take her to the Lithuanian border, not only her but a few other people too, which was what I did. So she didn't flee. Do you want proof? We can provide proof to you,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said and noted that the journalist brought up fake news again. “You are either misinformed or you are trying to misinform your viewers and listeners.”
“As regards opposition leadership. I hope I will always have the same view as I do now. The leader of the opposition is someone who lives in this country and has a different point of view. As they express it, they campaign to bring this alternative view to fruition. There are no such people as you describe them in Belarus. They are somewhere over there on your side, paid by you,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.
“Look, if one is a revolutionary and they got themselves involved in a revolution, moreover, tried to win a blitzkrieg here with foreign money - there were such people here. Well, they need to be prepared for anything. Isn't that the way history works? But if you wanted to make money on this or hype it up as they say these days, well that's a different issue,” the Belarusian leader noted.
“He who has got himself involved in a revolution should go all the way. He knows what a revolution is and what the consequences are. But if they flee, they are fraudsters who wanted to make money on this, which was what they did. And the latest events are proof of this,” the head of state said.
