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Lukashenko says Belarus deserves to be treated as sovereign state

Belarus deserves to be treated as a sovereign state, Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview with the BBC during the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Havana last week.

"If the United States believe that we are a sovereign state, what we are, they should act in accordance with this belief instead of lording it over us or pressing us. We deserve to be talked to as a sovereign state... We do not want much. We just want normal cooperation that will be of benefit to our state. If the Americans agree, we are ready to cooperate with them as early as tomorrow," he said.

The Belarusian leader denied that convicted Aleksandr Kozulin who ran against him in the March presidential election was a political prisoner. "When 95 percent vote for the incumbent in presidential elections, what idiot can take someone and put him in jail? It will above all do harm to you."

He said that foreign observers had "confidentially and privately" informed their countries' authorities that he had won a landslide victory in the election, suggesting that he had not have any reasons for imprisoning Dr. Kozulin.

He stressed that a person would be jailed in any country for an attempt to take a detention center by assault. "Imagine that someone has lead a group of some people to storm a detention center in the United States, the United Kingdom or somewhere else. How would you react? You would react in the harshest way because this is a violation of the law."

When asked about the independent media in the country, Mr. Lukashenko said that it was impossible today to ban it. He said that "at least" half of all Belarusians watched CNN, noting that the BBC, Euronews and Eurosport channels also were available to Belarusian viewers, along with Russian TV channels.

"How is it possible today to isolate a country and ban the independent media? They are openly being financed by Americans and Europeans. There is a new Russian channel, RTVi, which I believe is owned by [Russian media tycoon Vladimir] Gusinsky. Money was provided for it. People watch it here and I also do. There is also a Belarusian-language version of this channel's programs. And they say there things that are far from being pleasant for the Belarusian president. Have I closed these channels? I do not even pay any attention to them. Because it is all lies. The West suffered a defeat in Belarus, but Americans and the West do not want to acknowledge this," he said. //BelaPAN