Lukashenka appeals to EU: No gay marriages in Belarus!

Last presidential address to the nation and the National Assembly has been suprisingly mild: in comparison with his previous speeches there have hardly been any stinging attacks against the West and Belarusian opposition.

According to the head of state, the Russian Federation still remains our key ally. However, addressing to Europe and the USA Lukashenka pointed out that one should not ask whether Belarus is at one with Russia or with the West. Belarusians and Russians are a unitary whole, he stated. "Calling on us to turn our backs on Russia is counterproductive," the President stressed.

In his opinion, Belarusians are "the most decent people in the centre of Europe" who see after gas and oil transit along with seizing radioactive materials and other hazardous substances on their border: "And that particular factor is a reason for the dialogue [with the EU]".

"But one should not stifle us – all the sanctions are counterproductive. Dear, don’t make us legalize same-sex marriages. As long as I’m President there will be no fagness in the country," he said.

Dead in the water

Although the current five-year period was off to a rather difficult start, Belarus has managed to stabilize its financial and economic situation, Aliaksandr Lukashenka stated. At the same time he noted that the world had not recovered from an economic crisis, and that the international financial and political elite did not know what to do. "Simple solutions, such as printing empty dollars and euros and ingenious financial manipulations, produce no effect," he said. According to the President, the Belarusians were good at fending for themselves, and Belarus had been "developing the real sector of the economy instead of making a financial soap bubble".

Cyprus bailout deal

The Belarusian leader could not help criticising the European Union for its fail to save Cyprus from bankruptcy.

"We would never pick another`s pocket and take away another`s money like democrats have done in the European Union," he said. "Now not a single European politician has the right to reproach a Russian, Ukrainian or Belarusian or anyone else in the post-Soviet territory for being undemocratic. Because the most undemocratic acts are where you take away property," Lukashenka stressed.