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Belarus will not choose between EU, Russia, Lukashenka says

Belarus should not be told to choose between close ties with the European Union or Russia, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said while accepting credentials from a number of foreign ambassadors in Minsk on October 19, BelaPAN said.

Mr. Lukashenka said that the European Union was making “methodological mistakes” in its policy toward Belarus, according to the presidential press office. “From the beginning Belarus declared a multi-vector policy,” he said, adding that this had drawn different responses from the EU and Russia. “Unfortunately, Europe has heard but forgotten this, while Russia has chosen not to hear,” Mr. Lukashenka said.

“Another methodological mistake by Europeans is that you think that Belarus is in a situation where we have no other choice but take some predetermined route,” he was quoted as saying.

The Belarusian leader warned that Minsk would not “take short-term steps to please Europe before some decisions are to be made regarding the country.” “You must understand us: we can accept conditions and make concessions but only those that do not run counter to the interests of our people and neighbors,” he stressed.

Noting that the EU would discuss its policy toward Belarus soon, Mr. Lukashenka warned that “putting pressure on the country that is the heart of the European continent is a horrible act.”

He noted that those wishing to see another person at the helm of Belarus “should find patience and wait.” “Lukashenka is not eternal. But as long as Lukashenka is president here, he has been elected by the people, they need to find patience and conduct a dialogue with him,” he stressed.

Mr. Lukashenka said that “a decade of sanctions against Belarus has not yielded any results.” “If the European Union wishes us well and means what it declares publicly, we accept this and will take steps in this direction. But, unfortunately, the information that I have proves the contrary. Let’s drop the principle of speaking one thing in public and doing another,” he was quoted as saying.

Mr. Lukashenka said that Minsk wanted the European Union to develop “predictable and constructive relations” and forge close ties in spheres that are important to entire Europe. “The new stage in relations connected with the launch of the Eastern Partnership program will make it possible to expand cooperation, extend it to the trade, economic, investment, visa, transport and energy spheres,” he noted.

The Belarusian leader accepted credentials from the Minsk-based ambassadors of Cuba, the Czech Republic, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and the UK, the Moscow-based ambassadors of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Guatemala, Japan, Slovenia and Spain, and the Vilnius-based ambassador of Ireland.