The Only Force That Can Influence Me Is People: Lukashenko Names Single Power That Shapes His Rule

In his interview with RT, reported by state news agency BELTA, the president was asked whether any companies, organisations or wealthy sponsors could sway his decisions, as often happens with Western politicians. His answer was unequivocal.

“Yes, there is such a force,” Lukashenko said. “It is the people who elected me. I am ready to do everything in their interests. But the main thing is to preserve this small patch of land where not only we, but also our children, will live. That is the force.

”He stressed that a proper system of government must ensure clear accountability: specific people must answer for results, and voters must be able to demand those results. At the same time, the country’s leader must be given sufficient powers to act.

“There was a time when I did not have the powers I have today,” he recalled. “I took the maximum responsibility upon myself and told the people: ‘I am accountable for this.’ Responsible politicians who truly want to do something for their nation must act the same way.”

Lukashenko contrasted Belarus’s system with those in the West and the European Union. “Over there it is unclear who forms what and who is responsible for what,” he said. “People are used to asking a specific person or group for results, but in your system everything is blurred. Western voters don’t even know whom to hold accountable. If you ask Merkel or Macron, they will say: ‘These are our powers, but we are not responsible for the rest — others are.’ And they don’t even try to take responsibility.”

He argued that Western leaders are too often beholden to rich sponsors who fund their rise to power. “Over time they begin to serve the interests of those sponsors rather than the interests of the entire people of Germany, France or Britain,” Lukashenko continued. “They serve their term, line their pockets and leave. They live well, but the people live badly. That is why I question and criticise their system of government and the way they form their authorities.

”No one, he insisted, can accuse him of acting in the interest of any sponsor or wealthy backer. “However much they criticise me, nobody today can say that I took what wasn’t mine or did something for some sponsor or rich man. No one. They can say it, but no one has ever put facts on the table. There are no such facts,” the president stated firmly.

“My advantage is that I come from a poor family and have never grown accustomed to wealth. For me it is not the main thing. I am not used to a luxurious life — probably something I inherited from my mother. She always taught me: ‘Son, don’t touch what belongs to others, don’t take what isn’t yours. It’s wrong. If not today, then tomorrow it will turn out badly.’ I remember that. I teach my own children the same.”

The state, he concluded, provides for his security and enables him to carry out his presidential duties — not any private sponsors.