MINSK, 27 August (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko is confident that Belarus will be able to overcome the situation connected with unauthorized street rallies. He made the relevant statement during a government conference in Minsk on 27 August, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “Economy is the key thing for us. If Belarusian enterprises work as usual, we will be afraid of no cataclysms. We will handle street protests despite attempts to destabilize the situation.”
He noted that all the people had already felt that the current president has someone to rely on. “About 3 million people have already participated in rallies in support of peace, calm, and the current president. 3 million people are a force to be reckoned with,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “Our voters are calmer: veterans, pensioners, specialists. They know what they have to do. They keep working. This is why we will have the number of people – 80% -- who voted for us.”
“This is why Belarusians should live calmly and everyone should focus on his or her own business. As for me, as for the law enforcement agencies and the rest, we will take care of our own business as well. Exclusively in line with the law. This is why one should open the Bible, I mean the law, and read: there are sanctions for these things and there are sanctions for those things. We are not bloodthirsty. We don't intend to choke anyone, chase anyone along the street unless we are forced to,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.
He stressed that the government has to protect people. “People are tired. People have come to realize what life in the calm hero city of Minsk means. People have come to realize how it feels when streets are getting bombed, when Molotov's cocktails and the rest are thrown to balconies. Firecrackers for now. God forbid if they start throwing grenades. Groups have already formed around our country who are ready to move in and light this fire. We cannot allow it to happen. I am saying it plainly and have no intention of lulling anyone,” Aleksandr Lukashenko concluded.