Address to Belarusian nation, Parliament

The topic of the Address is conditions for preserving sovereignty and independence. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement in his Address to the nation and the parliament on 31 March.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “Dear friends! I absolutely realize that it happened probably because of god’s will, probably because you and I pursued such a policy that millions, millions of eyes watch this hall today. Today great minds of our mankind, excuse me for immodesty, I cannot but say it, are concentrated in this hall. And from beyond the borders of our country.”

The president stressed that he had been closely monitoring wishes and requests of citizens in mass media. “I saw who and what wanted to hear today. I understand you but you have to understand me, too. Today I am restricted by certain limits. First, it is an annual Address of the president. Second, it is a concentrated look at the situation in the country and abroad as well as tasks concerning the future. Third, we provided for answers to questions. It is such a democratic step. It was taken by us – the parliament and the president – a long time ago. If I don’t mention some matter, some problem that the state and our nation face, you have an opportunity to clarify something or ask an additional question. I think that today you and I will find answers to all the questions that our society faces today,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.

The topic of the Address is conditions for preserving sovereignty and independence. The head of state stressed that this matter has never been so acute in the latest history of Belarus.

The president stressed: “Never in our history have we approached such a dangerous line when we have to pay close attention to preserving the sovereignty and independence of our country. I mean our contemporary history. This is why I will try to voice key conditions from my point of view. And through them I will endeavor to determine our current tasks, primarily for this year. And naturally, through current problems we will try to look beyond the horizon, to look and think which way we should follow. What attempts have we tried? And what will happen tomorrow and the day after tomorrow? Naturally, we will start with the overall things without which it is impossible to determine either current or future tasks.”

“For more than a quarter of a century, there has been a tradition in our country to deliver the annual address to the Belarusian people and the parliament. This is a kind of political dialogue involving everyone: the president, the government, officials and executives of all levels, MPs, public associations and the general public,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The questions that are raised during the address concern every Belarusian, the president emphasized. “We discuss relevant topics and burning issues. Our decisions are underpinned by the desire to preserve peace, to increase our national wealth, to ensure social justice. These are our democratic values, true values,” the head of state said.

“Even more than that: this is the core of our national idea that was clearly defined by the current time. And we all must serve this idea both in word and in deed, especially now when there is less and less space on the planet for a safe and decent life,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“We, Belarusians, are not alone in striving for peaceful creation in spite of the challenges posed by the current time. Few people like to see sparks along the West-East line, new dividing lines appearing, and a new Iron Curtain forming. No one wants to experience the consequences of insane and useless sanctions wars. And this is what matters most,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Nations do not understand how the ideology of the global international project of sustainable development can be compatible with such ‘achievements’ of today, as an unprecedented famine, epidemics, moral degradation and rampant abnormal values, the president said. “There has never been anything like this in world history!” the head of state said. “Such development can hardly be called civilizational. As is the fact that the world spends trillions of U.S. dollars on killing people and ruining nations, rather than on creation.”

“This is the deepest crisis, a crisis that is all-encompassing, multifaceted. In many ways it is man-made – aimed at destroying rivals. We have never seen anything like this in history as well. It is not yet known what the way out of it will be, but everyone understands that the philosophy of the world order will change. The world will be completely different. This is the essence of this historic moment. The feeling of epochal changes is literally in the air. So is the question: what will our tomorrow be like? And before we try to look beyond the horizon, as I said, we must make an honest and principled assessment of the events that played the role of a trigger in the process that cannot be stopped. Unfortunately, we cannot stop it,” the head of state added.

“Recall how all major conflicts of recent decades began. With the unwavering determination of the West to subjugate the whole world. And not even the West, but one country. With the transition of self-sufficient, sometimes very strong, truly independent states under external control. Like a virus, it penetrated the political landscape of a country either through the incumbent government or through the opposition. As a rule, it was done through the elites bogged in rampant corruption, because those who have something to lose, who have a hefty bank account abroad, will serve anyone and in any possible way,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.

It also happened that entire nations found themselves under external control after being drugged by the ideas of creating ‘a new country’, ‘a new order’, ‘a new perfect society’,” the head of state stressed. “You have heard all these cliched slogans more than once. Such ideological bombs were planted in all the former Soviet republics. And now we see them detonate. First, a country is exposed to a soft cultural expansion, soft power, and then it finds itself under the boot of a foreign mercenary,” said the president.

"While the people are distracted by the struggle with themselves, by denying the past, traditions, by falling for ethnic issues and all kinds of liberalistic projects, lands, resources, national values are taken over by foreign corporations and financial institutions. And to govern and manage them people like our fugitive oppositionists are selected. The territory of the country turns into a field for experiments: military, biological, political, and ideological ones,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The result is the following: the new ‘enlightened’ society is brought to the verge of poverty, and the countries – to the verge of being plundered. “In other words, misfortune comes to those who let it in. The most illustrative and very dramatic example is very close, near our southern border, where the carnage will not stop until the overseas master gives the go-ahead,” the head of state stressed.