MINSK, 26 August (BelTA) – Ukrainians are no nationalists except for the ruling clique, BelTA learned from Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “Personally I have a very kind and good attitude to Ukrainians. Including people in western Ukraine. There is nothing bad in them. They are no nationalists. Nationalists are those, who are on top, starting with those, who smoke, snort, and drink stuff and then yap on television. But the people are good. Those are our kind of people. This is why I deemed it necessary to congratulate the Ukrainian nation [on Independence Day] as always.”
The congratulatory message met a strange response from Ukrainian politicians. A Ukrainian MP even threatened Aleksandr Lukashenko with physical violence. In response the Office of the Prosecutor General of Belarus had opened a criminal investigation against him. However, Aleksandr Lukashenko does not pay attention to it. “As for someone going crazy over there, it is just like with Scholz. I didn't even pay attention to it,” he stated.
The president remarked that his personal feelings and his views as a statesman are intertwined in his attitude to Ukraine. “My roots of great-great grandparents are buried somewhere between Chernigov and Kiev. My last name is self-explanatory. Thank god I've kept it,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “As for the state views, they are our neighbors. We cannot choose our neighbors, I've often said it. Neighbors are chosen by the God. Since they are a gift from the God, we should treat them appropriately. Thirdly, those are our kind of people, those are Slavs. All of us come from the same root. On the whole, I've always admired Ukraine.”
