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“This blitzkrieg has failed, we have kept our country,” Lukashenko said in a speech to the two-day Pan-Belarusian People’s Assembly in 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 announce when the proposed changes would be announced.
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 translate.
Protesters in Belarus have been demanding the resignation of Lukashenko, who was declared the winner of the August elections and began his sixth term, for months on the streets. The opposition claims that the election was rigged.
The authorities trashy repressed the protests and arrested thousands of people, many of whom reported being beaten and tortured.
Several Western states have refused to recognize Belarus’ election results, and the European Union has imposed sanctions on Lukashenko and his allies.
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