MINSK, March 4 (Itar-Tass) — Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the Belarussian authorities would toughly respond to sanctions by the European Union.
“We shall toughly, as I warned, react to their sanction measures. Incidentally, this is what we are doing now,” he told reporters on Sunday, commenting on deteriorating relations between Belarus and the European Union. According to the president, any state would act the same way.
Lukashenko underlined at the same time that Belarussians did not interfere and are not interfering with anybody’s life, but they will use force to make others respect themselves. “They go out of their way to destroy our stability and to destroy our state, to make it an underling in all respects, but we shall not permit them to do so,” Lukashenko said.
The president called actions of the European Union that stiffened sanctions against Belarus, a real fit of hysterics. “This is a real fit of hysterics and, as you see, two types of politicos are in the van – one minister lives in Warsaw and the second in Berlin,” the president noted.
Meanwhile, he underlined, the main thing is in quite another sphere. “All of us remember pretty well the middle of the last century and what the world received from their dictatorship. In real fact, our people have not come to senses yet up to this time. Therefore, they should not reproach us about some sort of a dictatorship,” the president continued.
He noted that the German leadership treated anxiously people 10-15 years ago who suffered in the years of the Second World War. “Belarus had lost a third of its population. You have not paid us for this yet. So, why do you reproach us constantly?” the president went on to say. According to Lukashenko, it turns out that “all this was a gamble by German politicians”.
As for sanctions proper, in Lukashenko’s words, despite the fact that judges should be independent, Europeans started putting pressure on Belarussian judges. “This is not accidental. It is a signal to judges: look out, if you pass improper sentences, as Brussels and Washington want, we shall deny visas to you,” the president stated.
He added that the judge should depend only on an article of law. “So, why do you want to put the judge in the dock?” Lukashenko asked. According to the president, this is also true of Belarussian policemen who fell under sanctions.
“Look out, if you fight for stability, if you bring to senses the fifth column, we shall deny you visas either. All these signals are in the same direction,” Lukashenko stressed.