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Belarusian leader says won’t allow to ‘give away’ his country

Alexander Lukashenko attended a rally of his supporters outside the House of Government in Minsk

© Valerij Sharifulin/TASS

MINSK, August 16. /TASS/. Incumbent Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he won’t allow to "give away" his country even if he dies.

"Together with you, despite all difficulties and troubles, we have built a beautiful country. To whom have you decided to give it away? If anyone wants to give away the country, I won’t let you do this even when I am dead," Lukashenko said.

Alexander Lukashenko said, Belarus would die as a state if it agreed to hold a rerun election.

"The NATO leadership is calling on us to hold a new election," Lukashenko said. "If we yield to their wishes we will die as a state," he stressed.

According to Lukashenko, foreign puppeteers are orchestrating riots in the country and want Belarusian borders to move from Brest back to Minsk like before World War II.

"They won’t let us live calmly. Even if they calm down now, they will emerge like rats from their holes some time later," the Belarusian president said, referring to the opposition supporters.

"They [the opposition - TASS] are controlled by people from outside, puppeteers. They see the Western borders of our Belarus here, near Minsk like back in 1939, and not near Brest," Lukashenko told a rally in his support on Independence Square in Minsk. "This is not going to happen," he stressed. "We will all become the Brest fortress, we won’t give away our country.".

A rally in support of incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko is now held on Independence Square in Minsk. On Sunday, the opposition will also gather for a protest in the Belarusian capital.

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