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In an exclusive CNN interview, the authoritarian Belarusian leader responsible for the brutal repression of his country’s citizens in recent years was persistent, taking turns denying the facts or saying that things were worse in the United States or the United Kingdom.
When asked about human rights abuses, including attacks on protesters, a plane capsized and he was forced to land in Minsk, and what the European Union calls “arming migrants,” Lukashenko tried to deny everything.
“It’s crazy,” he said of the Polish government’s allegations that Belarus was dumping immigrants over its borders.
“Do you think I’m crazy?” He answered the question of whether his country was transporting immigrants to the margins of the European Union in retaliation for EU sanctions and EU asylum for dissidents.
However, the tensions between Belarus and the EU are real.
Most airlines no longer fly over Belarus. This decision was made after the month of May. Roman Protasevičius, a famous critic of the Lukashenko regime, was arrested from a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius.
A Belarusian fighter jet seized an airliner in Belarusian airspace when local air traffic controllers ordered it to make an emergency landing in Minsk, fearing there would be a bomb on the plane. Immediately after landing, the Belarusian authorities arrested dissident journalist R. Protasevičius and his girlfriend S. Sapeg, who were living abroad, and then allowed the plane to fly to Lithuania.
A Belarusian official said at the time that the Palestinian militant group Hamas had sent an email saying there was a bomb on the plane. A Hamas spokesman denied the accusation as “fake news” and Protasevičius said it was a fantastic ploy to land a plane in Minsk.
Pressured by CNN to answer the question of whether the threat to detonate the bomb was real or fictitious as a pretext to stop criticism of the government, Lukashenko simply assured his country that he was complying with international law.
“If you are afraid of flying over our territory, I can personally guarantee the safety of you, your company or your country or any other country when you fly over Belarus, as before,” Lukashenko said, adding:
If you decide not to fly, well, fly over the North Pole or the South Pole, it is your right, I cannot force you. I am not as powerful as Great Britain, much less the United States, so I can impose any conditions. If you don’t fly, others will fly, as you just said. Everything is fine, somehow we’ll get away with it. “
Lukashenko, a temperamental former director of the collective farm, has been working since 1994. He is the president of Belarus, the country’s first and only leader since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The so-called “last dictator of Europe”, the iron claws of the government, are under increasing pressure, especially since last year’s vote.
His public performances are strictly controlled, and when he’s on the air, people who praise him often flock to him.
The CNN interview at Lukashenko’s House of Independence did not fail to elude and tried to turn the problem to the West.
Even when the journalist gave him specific details about the victims of the horrible, sometimes even fatal, treatment of Lukashenko’s critics, the latter said he had nothing to apologize for.
“I don’t think that’s the right question, and I basically have nothing to apologize for,” he said.
CNN cited evidence from human rights organizations Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International that some detainees reported injuries, including fractures and burns, while others said they were forced to lie naked in the mud when they suffered abuse.
Mr. Lukashenko replied: “You know, we don’t have any detention centers, as you say, like Guantanamo or the bases that the United States and your country have established in Eastern Europe … As for our own detention centers where to hold Defendants or suspects, they are no worse than in Britain or the United States. I can guarantee that. “
He also hinted at Ashli Babbitt, who was shot when on January 6. An uprising in the US Capitol tried to sneak through a broken window that led to the death of a White House president in the lobby, falsely saying that CNN and other news corporations were “silent about it.”
Initially, the Belarusian author avoided speaking the name of the opposition leader, Svetlana Cichanouskoya, who moved to Lithuania after receiving the rigged elections and received political asylum.
However, he later decided to do so and said that S. Cichanouskaya was not forced to flee the country. “I swear to my children that Cichanouskaya was not running anywhere,” he said.
However, Europe and the United States believe that the election results were “stolen” from Cichanouskaya. In July, a meeting was held at the White House with the president of the United States, Joe Biden, leader of the Belarusian opposition, who wrote on Twitter that it was a “great honor” to meet her, adding that the United States “supports the Belarusian people in his quest for democracy and universal human rights. ”.
Mr. Lukashenko paints an optimistic picture of life in Belarus, saying that it is safe for families to leave their homes, but journalists trying to talk to people in Minsk have found something to remember. Most of them did not stop talking to CNN and rushed to speak.
A young man who agreed to speak gave a short and clear assessment of what people feared. “This is Belarus,” he said. “The police can arrest you and me.”
Returning to Lukashenko’s interview at the House of Independence, the author, asked about the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, assured that the Belarusian people were not naive and understood that the latter was “laughing” when saying that vodka and Bathrooms could protect against the coronavirus.
Recently, Lukashenko has been shaping the image of the nation as a man, a strong leader, and a brave man on the world stage.
However, collect the words carefully.
“I will not admit anything to you. There is no ongoing investigation for me. So choose your words carefully,” he said in a reply.
He was between saying there was “no weakness that would take revenge on the EU for sanctions and threats of retaliation if relations with the West deteriorated further.”
However, according to critics of the regime, the real weakness is that Lukashenko is getting closer and closer to another strongman, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in financial support to the Kremlin, which is likely to be conditional. . .
But his critics say the weakness is drawing Lukashenko closer to the support of another strongman, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in financial aid to the Kremlin, which will likely be subject to certain conditions.
Intense economic, political and military integration has led to speculation that Lukashenko will not only be the last but also the first president of Belarus to actually unite his country with Russia.
No matter how obvious, Lukashenko denied it without batting an eye, saying that Belarus remains and will remain independent.
“Putin and I are smart enough to create a union of two independent states that are stronger together than separately. Sovereignty is not for sale,” he said.
“Putin and I are smart enough to create a union of two independent states that are stronger together than alone. Sovereignty is not for sale,” he said. In the next breath, he suggests what might happen if a provocation occurs. .
However, in another sentence, the authoritarian president of Belarus contradicts himself and mentions what could happen if a provocation were carried out.
“If necessary, Belarus will become a Russian-Belarusian military base to resist their aggression, if you decide or if either country decides to attack. And it should be clear to you, I never hid it.”
Prepared according to CNN inf.
