MINSK, November 24. /TASS/: The West would like to involve Russia in toppling the current regime in Belarus, but currently has no idea how to do that, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speculated Tuesday, according to the BelTA news agency.
"Recently, the Western nations have been quite concerned about Belarus’s further development, they worry very much and contrive various schemes of pressure on the Belarusian authorities and the president in a bid to topple the current regime. They went so far as to involve Russia in this process, although they have no idea how to do it. I claim this based on, as they say in China, iron-hard facts," Lukashenko said as he received credentials from foreign ambassadors.
The president claimed that it is possible to force him to resign.
"This is possible. Here’s a hint, there’s only one way to do it: only the Belarusian people can do it, based on the existing laws and the Constitution of Belarus," Lukashenko noted. "As you can see, it is a very simple solution to all questions that worry the Western diplomats currently serving in Belarus, as well as those concerned in the West and our fugitive [politicians]," the president said.
On August 9, presidential elections took place in Belarus. According to the Central Election Commission’s official results, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot. However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome, and left Belarus for Lithuania. After the results of the exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests erupted in downtown Minsk and other Belarusian cities that continue to this day. During the early post-election period, the rallies snowballed into fierce clashes between the protesters and police.
Lukashenko has repeatedly stated that these protests are being directed from abroad. Western countries do not recognize the outcome of the elections and consider Lukashenko’s new term illegitimate.
As of now, the EU has imposed two sanctions packages against Minsk with 55 officials in the list, including Lukashenko himself. All of them are barred from entering the EU, and all their European bank accounts, should any be discovered, will be suspended.
