MINSK, 8 January (BelTA) - In the latest episode of the documentary series Time Chose Us aired by the Belarus 1 TV channel Press Secretary of the President of Belarus Natalya Eismont said that Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko was open to talk to non-state media and answered all their questions in 2015, BelTA reports.
Aleksandr Lukashenko gave an interview to non-state media on 4 August 2015. He promised to have such a dialogue at the large press conference in January.
“We invited three journalists from our, let's say, prominent non-state media outlets. The president was willing to have this conversation. It lasted much longer than planned. Although there were only three journalists, it took more than four hours. The president answered all their questions,” Natalya Eismont remarked.
The press secretary stressed that the topics of the conversation were “surprisingly traditional”. None of the questions came as a surprise. “In the run-up to the presidential election, the journalists were certainly interested in the domestic agenda. The situation in Ukraine was the most discussed topic at that time. The economy was always a topic of interest for these journalists. They asked when Belarus would follow in the footsteps of the West to embrace a very liberal version of the market economy, which they liked and still like so much. As far as I remember, the journalists were talking a lot about the language issue. They were concerned about it, but in fact this issue has never been a problem in our country,” she emphasized.
Natalya Eismont pointed out that this interview was neither special nor difficult for the president. “We never ask anyone to send us questions in advance (it is our principle set by the president) while preparing for an interview. The president is always ready to answer any questions. In this respect, it is very easy for me as press secretary to do my job. All the questions we were expecting were voiced,” the press secretary stated.
The interviewers were strongly criticized by their colleagues, she added. They expected a hard talk, not softball questions.
“Yet, credit where credit is due. I like the way they approached the interview. I should say that the non-state media did a good job. Maybe they understood the level of responsibility. They probably appreciated that we invited them and devoted so much time to the interview, albeit they did not avoid some bias. A slight one, because we understand our current realities. At that time they were probably still learning,” the press secretary of the Belarusian leader concluded.
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