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This blitzkrieg has failed, we have kept our country, “Lukashenko said in a speech at the beginning of the two-day Pan-Belarusian People’s Assembly in the capital Minsk, attended by hundreds of delegates loyal to the government.
Using expressions that are particularly influential in a country that has been hit hard by the Nazi German occupation during WWII, Lukashenko has tried to portray Belarus as a cloak of foreign power.
“Despite artificial tensions in society created by outside forces, we have resisted,” Lukashenko said, adding that Belarus “will stick with whatever happens.”
“We must resist at all costs. This year, 2021, will be crucial, he said.” There are very powerful forces involved and they cannot afford to lose this war.
Before the Assembly, the oldest European leader promised to introduce reforms, including constitutional changes, which are seen as an attempt to reassure opponents.
“We must carefully consider social development issues, think about the possibility of adjusting the basic law,” Lukashenko told delegates, but did not say when the proposed changes would be announced.
„Reuters“ / „Scanpix“ nuotr./Aliaksandras Lukašenka
In his speech, Lukashenko harshly criticized the Arab Spring in the Middle East and the “color revolutions” in the post-Soviet space. According to him, these events caused “chronic instability and impoverishment of the people.”
According to Lukashenko, the point is not him, because “the time will come and you will choose a new Lukashenko or someone else.”
“They want to break us, [nes] we are unwanted, we did not have to appear on the international stage and we will be constantly attacked, “he said, adding:” We must persevere. “
Last year, Lukashenko faced the most serious threat to his government since 1994, when he came to power.
Tens of thousands of protesters in Belarus have been in the streets for months demanding the resignation of Lukashenko, who was declared the winner of the August elections and took office for a sixth term. The opposition claims that the election was rigged.
The authorities brutally repressed the protests and arrested thousands of people, many of whom reported being beaten and tortured. At least four protesters died.
Several Western states have refused to recognize Belarus’ election results, and the European Union has imposed sanctions on Lukashenko and his allies. On Sunday, EU diplomats met with relatives of Belarusians killed in protests in Minsk.
Scanpix / AP photo / Protest in Belarus
The Belarusian opposition, whose leaders have been jailed or forced to go to neighboring countries of the European Union, calls the Belarusian People’s Assembly a political theater.
In November, Lukashenko promised to change the constitution to suppress the protests. A few weeks earlier, he appeared with a Kalashnikov machine gun and called the protesters rats.
On Thursday he asked for clarification “with the useless, who have not worked anywhere for years, but have expensive houses, cars, pay the country for services at social rates.”
“They are still scandalous and represent between 35 and 40%. Illegal actions [dalyvių]”Lukashenko added.”
According to him, the mayor of Minsk recently informed him that there are 68 thousand people in the capital. vain.
“And they all went, they all beat the owners, the militia, they broke, they beat, they caused disturbances in society. They were avant-garde, Lukashenko said. “Everyone should be forced to work.”
Earlier, he said that the majority of Belarusians vote for him and only about 500 thousand. people don’t want to see him in his presidency.
At the meeting, which was attended by 2.7 thousand. Mostly from state-sponsored sectors, he rejected calls from the opposition and apparently postponed the promised deadline to change the constitution.
Call to participate in new protests
On the eve of the meeting, the Telegram channel NEXTA, during which demonstrations were mobilized and coordinated during the months of protest, was called for new protests.
“This is a gathering of failed Lukashenko supporters, who have been defeated for one purpose: to please a person’s pride,” NEXTA wrote, urging Minsk residents to take to the streets.
The Belarusian militia has promised to “crack down” on any illegal activity and warned of possible street closures in the capital, officially due to the forecast of heavy snowfall.
Mr. Lukashenko has held two referendums on the constitution in the past, pushing for amendments that have strengthened the presidential institution.
In 1996, greater powers were granted to appoint judges, including the president of the Constitutional Court.
In a second referendum in 2004, he had the opportunity to work for three terms instead of two.
Lukashenko usually calls pan-Belarusian popular assemblies during his election campaigns to give visibility to popular support for his candidacy.
But last year, instead, he decided to visit militias and military units.
In protest of tens of thousands of people each weekend in Minsk in the fall, these security forces were vital in ensuring that Lukashenko remained in power. During the peak of the protests, about 10 million. In the country with a population of more than 100 thousand people participated in the demonstrations. people.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who has hosted Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlan Cichanouskaya and several hundred other activists, told AFP news agency that Lukashenko’s meeting was “an attempt to mimic dialogue.” .
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