Lukashenka: “We won’t go on our hands and knees to Europe. Our dictatorship doesn’t hinder anybody to live and develop”

Alyaksandr Lukashenka asked Europe to recognise his dictatorship “democratic” when receiving credentials from new ambassadors of foreign states, accredited in Minsk.

After he had received credentials, A. Lukashenka having a goblet with Champaign spoke to the diplomats there would be “no restriction” in their work in Belarus. He also said he would like the ambassadors to “respect our country”. “We might not like everything in your countries, but we have never raised claims to you, and we would like you to treat us in the same way,” Lukashenka said.

“We have never created problems for Europe. Our dictatorship doesn’t hinder anybody to live and develop. On the contrary, we are a necessary partner for you, we solve many problems for Western Europe,” the Belarusian ruler said.

Lukashenka also said he meant control of illegal migration, drugs smuggling, nuclear components. “Every year we detain nuclear components, it is not a single case,” he said. Besides, he noted, “Europe gets half of oil and natural gas via Belarus. Our export to Europe exceeds export to Russia.” According to him, in this regard, “we would like to have normal relations in this and other directions.”

However, Lukashenka warned: “We won’t go on our hands and knees to the common European house.”

According to him, “if Europe doesn’t accept us, we will be able to displace the relations, first of all in economy, by cooperation with such countries as Venezuela and Iran.”