MINSK, January 12. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is ready to engage in a dialogue with the opposition on constitutional amendments, but not with traitors, he said Tuesday.
"We are ready to talk to all honest people, including the opposition, but not with traitors," Lukashenko said, according to BelTA. "We are ready to conduct dialogue with any opposition, on any issues, from constitutional amendments to the future of our Belarus."
Meanwhile, the president underscored that the authorities "will not bend their knees before anyone."
"Today, as the world becomes more and more aggressive, it is especially important to hold one’s ground, to remember that the Belarusian people have lived here for ages and will continue to live, to feel the unity with generations of different eras, to understand that we have our own path," he said. "Great people started it, and we continue it. Knowing what trials our ancestors had to endure, defending their land in wars, how we preserved our cultural traditions and spiritual values when we had no state of our own, we see the most important things."
Previously, amid protests and political crisis in the country, Lukashenko stated the need to amend the constitution and expressed his readiness to redistribute authority among other branches of power. The opposition refused to discuss the constitutional amendments with the authorities, insisting on repeat presidential elections instead.