Lukashenko explains why Belarus is not a dictatorship

Only the United States can dictate terms in today's world as they have a huge territory, population, power and a money printing machine, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Minsk on 21 July, BelTA has learned.

The head of state was asked about the difference between a dictatorship and the policy pursued in Belarus. Aleksandr Lukashenko responded that the Constitution gives the president great powers in Belarus. Moreover, all versions of the country's fundamental law were adopted by referendum, and many articles were modeled on the legislative practices of France, Russia, Kazakhstan. “In other words, we did not create anything unique and exceptional, we adopted the experience of other countries,” he said.

“It is true, we have a more centralized system of government. I might even describe it as ‘authoritarian'. Yet, it is by no means a dictatorship. In order to dictate terms, you need to have certain leverage and resources. What resources does Belarus have to tell France, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Russia what to do?,” the president asked.

“When you know your place in this world and when you know what kind of pressure you can be subjected to, you will always look around, at the external factor. And no one inside the country will allow you to dictate terms,” the Belarusian leader added.

In his opinion, only the United States can probably dictate terms today: “They have everything for this: power, population, territory and a money printing machine. Even France cannot be a dictatorship, although it is a nuclear power.”