Lukashenko: Every important decision about Belarus must be taken inside the country

“We need to keep our independence and sovereignty as the apple of our eye. Their economic component is our government's area of responsibility. We cannot allow even the slightest loss of national authority in the area. All decisions affecting Belarus should be made only within the country and by us,” the president stressed.

He recalled many significant achievements of the country over the time of its independence, significant, breakthrough projects, such as a full cycle high-tech agro-industrial production near Minsk, space programs, the development of the IT industry in the country. In the near future, Belarus will launch the first unit of its nuclear power plant. “We will get electricity, and there is no need to lament that there will be nowhere to use it. We will give it to people. We will find a way to reduce the cost of the power plant and electricity tariffs,” the president said.

“We have developed a new IT sector. We have been working not just on digitalization, but on artificial intelligence. We are known and respected in the world. We have done this and many other projects. They say that we sat idle and did not work on new and latest technologies. One can say: I can do more. But if you can do more, then show the money. Where will you get the money to do more?” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

There are also achievements in space exploration. “Who would have thought [in the years when Belarus just gained independence] that this impoverished, poor country could penetrate into space and join the list of the 20-30 space powers? We have been welcomed there,” stated the Belarusian leader.

He also drew attention to domestic weapon developments. “Not everything was smooth, but we did it. Today anyone, who decides to attack us, understands that this missile is a high-precision weapon. I am not threatening anyone. We are not going to attack anyone, but we have everything necessary to protect our country,” the president stressed.

Nevertheless, there is a category of people who do not see or do not want to see the achievements of Belarus. “They queue up, scream slogans, demonstrate something, and so on. We take a look at some of them in Grodno. They are doing all right. Lukashenko is bad, while they live in palaces. Some 80-year-old woman was very active, yelling things. They sent me a picture of the mansions of her son and her own which are located on the same site. What more do they want?,” the president said.

One of the most important achievements of Belarus is peace and stability. Some people, however, forget about it. “The only post-Soviet country that has not seen any misfortunes. Some Belarusians think that it is somewhere far away that Ukraine has been destroyed, the war is going on there, some territory of it has been taken away. Somewhere far away is Moldova which has been divided in half, Transnistria and the western part. They have forgotten how Lithuania fought to defend its independence and sovereignty during the Soviet times under Gorbachev. They have forgotten that today the Caucasus is still in flames, Armenians are at war with Azerbaijanis, and they cannot agree. They have forgotten that Georgia lost almost a third of its territory - first Abkhazia, then South Ossetia. Finally, no one knows how my friend Rahmon went with a machine gun to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, to restore order, how many people died there, how they fought. They have forgotten how former President Karimov in Andijan suppressed the military coup by shooting thousands of people. Everyone condemned him, and when he died, they knelt down, wept and cried. We did not have it, so we do not want to understand it, at least some of us. Then we will remind them,” said the head of state.

In assessing the period, he admitted that some results could have been better. “There were times and opportunities for this. There were however objective reasons. This pandemic has brought about problems. If not for it, we would have lived and worked peacefully,” he said. Aleksandr Lukashenko responded to those who believe that Belarus' actions to combat coronavirus infection are wrong. “Our Belarusians thank doctors that we fight for every life, that we lose much fewer people than other countries and our neighbors do. What did we do wrong? Is it that we have not isolated and quarantined the Belarusians? Is it that we have not declared a curfew? Today the whole world confirms that Lukashenko was right,” said the president. On his instructions, officials at the highest level constantly monitor the development of the epidemiological situation, take measures to save lives.

“We have developed our own country where our children can live. Today is the moment when it must be defended, protected. You can see that we are being torn apart. Some people think that things will fall from the sky now. They'd better worry about being sent to fight in Syria, or Libya. God forbid we will have to fight for own pieces of land, defending them. I want to draw the attention of some Belarusians to this. We must make all decisions here in the interests of the Belarusian people, and we have every opportunity to do so,” he said.