MINSK, November 11 President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko congratulated the people of Poland Happy Independence Day and declared Minsk's readiness to build «bridges of friendship», the press service of the head of the Belarusian state reported.
«President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, on behalf of the multinational Belarusian people, congratulated the people of Poland on the Independence Day. The head of state stressed that Belarus is committed to the harmonious development of bilateral ties, demonstrates its readiness to build bridges of friendship, and not border walls with barbed wire,» the press release says. -services. According to it, in his congratulations, Lukashenka stressed that the geographical proximity of the countries «cannot and should not turn into an instrument of blackmail or threat.»
The President noted that this year Belarus responsibly and consciously established a visa-free regime for citizens Poland, thereby giving good-neighborliness a qualitatively new value.
“Unfortunately, ordinary citizens of your country should pay for the gross mistakes of odious Polish politicians today. The artificially created false images of enemies in the person of Belarus and Russia have led to a deterioration in the living standards of all Europeans, undermined confidence in international relations and forced millions of people to suffer,” he said. Lukashenka. The head of state expressed the hope that the people of Poland would understand this and make the right choice during the political campaign to be held (in 2023, elections to the country's parliament are scheduled in Poland).
“Belarusians who are spiritually and culturally very close to you have never posed a threat,” the Belarusian president pointed out. Lukashenka expressed hope that the open position of the Belarusians to establish constructive relations with the Poles on the principles of partnership, trust and mutual respect would soon meet with a positive response.
The Belarusian President wished all the citizens of Poland a peaceful sky, solidarity and an independent choice of fate and future. «In the current very difficult and contradictory time, it becomes especially clear how important it is to preserve the independence and independence of your country, preserve peace, strengthen Christian values and mutual openness,» the congratulation says.
After the presidential elections held in Belarus on August 9, 2020 , where Lukashenka won for the sixth time, mass opposition protests took place in the country. The KGB of Belarus in February 2021 stated that manifestations of protests had practically disappeared. In Belarus, criminal cases have been opened against a number of opposition leaders, including calls for the seizure of power, the creation of an extremist formation, a conspiracy to seize state power in an unconstitutional way, and an attempted terrorist act. Lukashenka accused the West of direct interference in the situation in the republic, noting that the US is directing the riots, while the Europeans «play along» with them. Western countries imposed sanctions against Minsk and its officials, the restrictions were expanded in 2022 due to Belarus' support for the Russian military special operation in Ukraine. A number of representatives of the Belarusian opposition went abroad, in particular to Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, which refuse to extradite oppositionists to Minsk.