Lukashenka: “I am fed up with power so that I am sick”

The Belarusian dictator mostly spoke about sanctions of the European Union at a meeting with the Estonian foreign minister.

“If you lift your sanctions, we’ll thank you, if you don’t lift them, we’ll thank you as well. Maybe, it’s comfortable for you. If you extend sanctions, we will regard this as an attempt to sponge us again. This is not productive and has no prospects,” Lukashenka said at the meeting in Minsk with Urmas Paet, the foreign minister of Estonia, Interfax reports.

As the Belarusian ruler noted, “If Europe keeps us on tenterhooks, promises something, demands to go in this or that direction, release some people and throw some to prisons, we can’t agree to this policy.”

“We have learnt ourselves how to live, we have found friends far away from Europe, we have diversified our foreign policy,” Lukashenka said.

According to him, “the 21st century is not the time for such relations”.

“Our development shouldn’t be defined by conditions, ultimatums, or military actions. The development will be determined by the weight of a state it brings to counter the challenges of the 21st century,” Lukashenka said.

“What to the challenges, I think Europe can’t exist without Belarus. If Europe doesn’t understand this today, it will understand this tomorrow,” the Belarusian dictator stated.

According to him, “before democratizing us Europe should see the positive things that we bring and rely on fundamental things”.

“We do not refuse to talk about democracy, but we’d like Europe to see the other side of the coin, which is more important and essential for Europe itself,” Lukashenka said.

“We don’t accept double standards,” Lukashenka emphasized.

“It is said that Lukashenka won’t do this, because he is afraid to lose his power. I’d like to be open and direct: Lukashenka has been in office enough, he has been fed up with power so that I am sick,” the head of state noted.

Lukashenka added: “Why am I trying to keep power? I have always had one goal — preserving the sovereignty, the independence of our country. I would like the people to be able to feel at home in this tiny piece of land. This is the goal of my entire power policy.”

“This idle talk mostly generated in Europe by our opposition sometimes depresses me,” Lukashenka said.

“Some people have started saying that we are trying to liberalize something and please Europe on the eve of the session of the European Union Council of Ministers scheduled for November. This is exactly what I am trying to prevent our Foreign Ministry and the government from. I am trying to prevent us from doing anything timed to this moment,” the Belarusian dictator said.

According to him, “Europe should understand that our main aim is strategy, not tactics”.

Lukashenka said: “building of our relations with Europe is not based on immediate steps and demonstrations”.

“We want to build substantial and fundamental relations. If Europe wants this, let’s do this,” the Belarusian ruler said.

We remind that visa bans on Belarusian officials have been suspended. In November 2009, the EU ministers will return to this issue. However, the situation in Belarus doesn’t change: political prisoners are still in jails, repressions against opposition go on, peaceful rallies are suppressed, freedom of speech has been eliminated, legislation fails to meet the OSCE standards.