Lukashenka explains why EU seeks closer ties with Belarus

Alyaksandr Lukashenka has outlined his vision of the reasons why the European Union has been seeking to forge closer ties with Belarus.

“The European Union is concerned that we may lose independence, although I don’t know why there’s such concern,” Mr. Lukashenka said in an interview with Agence France-Presse on November 24.

A transcript of the interview was posted on the Belarusian leader’s website on Thursday.

The EU has realized Belarus’ role and drawn “certain conclusions,” Mr. Lukashenka said.

“And then, probably, the most recent elections have convinced Europeans that whatever ‘dictatorship’ is here, it’s not Lukashenka who is guilty that the opposition cannot delegate its people into the government,” he stressed.

Mr. Lukashenka claimed that all foreign observers had been allowed to monitor September’s parliamentary elections. “Even those barred from our territory also were allowed, all of them came. They saw the true state of affairs and understood that regardless of whether Lukashenka is bad or good, he was elected by the people. Whether they like it or not, the lawmakers also were elected by the people. That means that they should have a dialogue with this government,” he said.

Mr. Lukashenka welcomed the European Union’s steps toward warmer ties with Minsk. “I would like them to be more significant, dramatic, so that this dialogue could be more intensive,” he said.