BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

24/11/2008

Belarus president warns of new arms race in Europe

MINSK, Belarus (AFP) - Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko warned of a new arms race in Europe and derided his opponents in an interview with AFP on Monday that also left the door open to better ties with the West.

Lukashenko, who has ruled this former Soviet republic of 10 million people for 14 years, also said that he planned to run for another presidential term in 2011 and that Belarus would retain "very strong relations" with Russia .

"You fly NATO planes near our country's borders. Why? We begin strengthening our air defences. This is pushing a mini arms race," Lukashenko said in an exclusive interview in the presidential administration in central Minsk.

"We are very concerned about what's happening on our borders," he said.

"Why expand and strengthen NATO? Let's rather think about how we can dismantle this military machine... It's absolutely unnecessary," he added.

Lukashenko also said that Belarus was planning to buy Russian short-range Iskander missiles to bolster its air defences but said that this was not a response to US missile defence plans and that Europe should stop worrying.

"What is it with the Iskanders? What's Europe's problem with Iskander? Why is it seen as such a dangerous weapon? There's nothing dangerous. I emphasise that Europe is worrying about this in vain," Lukashenko said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev this month said Russia would deploy Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad exclave, located between Poland and Lithuania, in response to US missile defence plans in Eastern Europe.

Asked about Western criticism of his hardline rule, Lukashenko shifted nervously in his armchair in the former Communist Party headquarters and laughed off his political opponents, calling them "common criminals."

He said the European Union's calls for democratic reforms in Belarus were unfounded but added that he could scrap a controversial criminal charge of slander against the president if the EU could offer something in return.

"If the European Union and the Americans want this so much and are ready to offer us something then... we'll cancel the slander article" from the criminal code, he said.

He was referring to a controversial article in the criminal code under which some opponents have been jailed.

"I'm pretty bored of this question about so-called political prisoners. There are no political crimes and there can therefore be no political prisoners. They're common criminals," he said.

"You wanted us to release them? We released them... But if you think these political prisoners are going to be released and are going to completely change life here, you're wrong. They're complete has-beens," he added.

In a mocking tone, the Belarussian leader also said that the scores of young activists arrested at demonstrations against his rule were "unconscious and drunk" and needed their sentences of 10 or 15 days in prison to recover.

Belarus this year released leading Lukashenko opponents including former presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin and former member of parliament Andrei Klimov. The European Union has since lifted some sanctions on Belarus.

Lukashenko said better relations with Europe were "taking root" and that a new US administration could improve frosty ties with Washington. The current US administration has branded Belarus "the last dictatorship in Europe."

Belarus could be a "bridge" between Russia and Europe that would guarantee stable energy supplies from Russia , he said. But he also emphasised ties with Moscow , saying that Russians and Belarussians "are basically one people."

Asked about the possibility of retiring, the 54-year-old Lukashenko said he planned to run for another presidential term. Lukashenko's reforms to the constitution have removed any term limits to his rule.

"If I'm healthy, if the situation is normal and if people have similar attitudes towards me, then I won't refuse the candidature, I won't turn down participation in the elections" scheduled for 2011, he said.

The president also said that the global financial crisis had shown that his country's largely state-controlled economy was more resilient than other European economies and that his hardline stance had been proved right.

"Europeans are talking more and more about the Belarussian model," he said.

Source:

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5168776/belarus-president-warns-of-new-arms-race-in-europe/

Google
 


Partners:
Face.by Social Network
Face.by