English

Belarus does not want to quarrel with West, Lukashenka says

Belarus does not want to "quarrel and squabble" with the European Union or the United States and want to have good relations with them, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said Friday while delivering his annual address to the nation and the National Assembly.

According to Mr. Lukashenka, Belarus ensures “quality conditions” for the transportation of large amounts of crude oil and petroleum products through its territory. In addition, foreigners who travel via Belarus "millions of times a year" do not experience any inconveniences, he said.

Belarus acts in the interests of Western countries by stopping "migration flows, atomic technologies, narcotic drugs and other harmful things" at the border, he said.

"This is already a good basis to begin the normalization of relations with the EU and the States," he said. "We don't want to quarrel and squabble with you. We want to have good, normal relations with you, but we’ll never kneel or bow down to you."

Mr. Lukashenka stressed that all sanctions against Belarus were counterproductive. "You say that Belarus is a sort of connecting link, bridge or corridor between the West and the East," he said. "This link should be safe, and we guarantee that it will be. As for democracy, we won't have any less of it than you do."

Mr. Lukashenka also pointed out that unlike some Western countries, Belarus would never legalize same-sex marriage while he was in power. "There will be no marriage for queers, dykes and others in our country," he said. "Our people don’t accept this. While allowing such marriages, you show that you are moving away from Christian values. This is alien to our nature and we won’t agree to this. We aren’t yet ready for queer marriages. Give us some time."

Any attempt to stage a revolution in Belarus would suffer the same fate, Mr. Lukashenka stressed. "The government will not allow it [revolution] to happen," he said, adding that at the same time nobody would persecute and harass political opponents in the country.

"A true opposition may exist," he said. "They may participate in presidential and parliamentary elections, but they should do this fairly without destruction or bombing. If they use bombs, they will be given a blow on the head. Isn't this clear?"

"We act the way you do," he said, referring to Western countries. //BelaPAN