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Lukashenka: European Union has realized that policy of sanctions is not just counterproductive but in fact detrimental to EU itself

The European Union has realized that the policy of sanctions and ultimatums against Belarus is not just counterproductive but in fact detrimental to the EU itself, Alyaksandr Lukashenka told reporters on Friday while staying in the Khoyniki district, Homyel region.

“I know for sure that this opinion is now prevalent among Europeans,” the Belarusian leader said. According to him, some "enlightened" members of the fifth column have also realized that the policy of sanctions is counterproductive and therefore are no longer members of the fifth column and are just “oppositionists.”

“Now the question is how to overcome the deadlock that occurred in our relations with the Europeans, through no fault of our own,” Mr. Lukashenka said.

EU politicians raise the issue of political prisoners in Belarus, but “I tell them once again that we don’t sentence anyone for political reasons, he said. Those alleged to be political prisoners were sentenced for “purely criminal offenses,” he stressed.

“I’ve already said how to get out of this situation,” he said. “There will be no departure in this regard. Those who wanted to get free are now free. Those who wanted to stay in prison and then come out as a hero may stay there. We don’t mind. The state will withstand the two or three individuals who want to be heroes through prison, but they cannot understand that the time for this has long been gone. Some [opposition] figures got out of prison. Who now hear of them or remember them? Nobody.”

According to Mr. Lukashenka, what matters are not the so-called political prisoners but the policy Belarus pursues. “Nobody around us wants Belarus to be independent and self-reliant,” he said. “But this is an accomplished fact. We will be an independent and self-reliant state.”

Another subject of criticism is the political system of Belarus, Mr. Lukashenka said. “Some don’t like it, too. They don’t like that it is impossible to loosen up the rigid government system, the strong government vertical,” he said. “They want the branches to swing in different directions. They want the country to be divided and this to be done without Lukashenka participating. Well, they may want what they want. Perhaps, some time we’ll be ripe for, as I have already said, queer marriages and these new political systems, but for now we believe the country needs this system.”

“You can see nobody needs one more business rival at the center of Europe,” Mr. Lukashenka said. “They may want things here to go the way they do in Greece or somewhere else, where everyone has bent down and feels discouraged, while the Germans are supplying their products.…. Do you want this to happen? I don’t.”

“A [negotiation] process is going on with the Europeans,” Mr. Lukashenka said. “We’ve told them plain: our policy is transparent, we don’t want to quarrel with the Europeans, we are part of Europe. Moreover, we are the geographical center. We would like to maintain normal relations with European states. If you want, we can talk. If you don’t, well, we’ll be waiting.” //BelaPAN