Alyaksandr Lukashenka said he wasn’t going to release political prisoners and hold free elections.
“Europe
should understand that is it necessary to respect each other if they
want to build good relations with Belarus,” Lukashenka said during his
visit to the Vitsebsk region.
“We are ready for a dialogue with Europe on all issues. This
dialogue seems to be going well,” Lukashenka said. He added: “I’ll tell
about a problem. If they make conditions for as and think that
Lukashenka won’t have another way out, as Russia used to think we had
bad relations with Russia, they will fail.” “We have good, excellent
relations with Russia. Yes, we have problems. But only those who do
nothing have no problems,” the Belarusian ruler said.
He
noted in this relation: “If someone thinks our relations with Russia
have spoilt, and Lukashenka will release all criminals from prisons and
ruin the legislation if he is pressed, it is a mistake!”
“We
are ready to wok both with Europeans and Americans on an equal mutually
advantageous basis. But if West counts to use different schemes to
press Lukashenka and pass this power to the opposition, they will
fail,” Lukashenka told.
“I want a sincere,
fair, honest dialogue with Europe. They should make us bow. We will
survive. We’ll go to dugouts, but will preserve sovereignty and normal
living,” Lukashenka said.
We remind that a
probation period the European Union gave to the Belarusian authorities
expires in November. Depending on the democracy situation in Belarus,
it will be decided in November whether the EU sanctions on the
Belarusian regime to be prolonged or lifted. The Belarusian authorities
should release political prisoners, stop repressions against
opposition, give freedom to the mass media and NGOs, change the
Electoral Code to carry out free and democratic elections in the
country. None of these conditions has been fulfilled so far.
Visit to Sochi to Medvedev planned for next week
Alyaksandr
Lukashenka plans to meet with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in
Sochi next week and discuss a range of bilateral relations, among them
serious problems.
“We arranged with the
Russian president in Kyrgyzstan to put serious issues on the agenda and
discuss them. Mr Dmitry suggested meeting in Sochi,” the Belarusian
ruler said in an answer to Interfax’s question during his working visit
to the Vitsebsk region.
“I think we will have
the meeting next week and we will discuss a wide range of difficult
issues that are not solved,” Lukashenka said.
The
Belarusian ruler expressed his wish: “let’s do what we’ve arranged. If
we have reached agreements, they should be implemented. In this case,
there won’t be rumours and insinuations against the way Lukashenka has
chosen,” the head of state noted.
“We must reach agreements and follow them,” he emphasized.
We
remind that it became known yesterday that the large-scale military
exercises of the Collective Rapid Response Forces of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) “Cooperation 2009” were delayed.
However, not all CSTO member-states signed the Agreement on CRRF
creation in Moscow on June 14 – Belarus ignored the participation in
the document. Minsk refused to sign the agreement due to the so called
milk war between Russia and Belarus. Nevertheless, all necessary
agreements on the CRRF were reached and Dmitry Medvedev said Belarus would join the document later.
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