Brussels, 07/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - It will be tough to break us, impossible even. Nobody will put us down, Alexander Lukaschenko, President of Belarus, told the EU and the Russians on Tuesday 6 February, in an interview in French with Reuters. Lukaschenko slammed the EU's desire to isolate Belarus and the threat of force from Moscow. He said there was no way he would be meeting the EU's 'impossible demands' concerning freedom of the press, election standards and the rule of law, or tolerating the 'barbarous behaviour' of Russia which doubled the price of its gas supplies to Belarus at the beginning of the year.
Alexander Lukaschenko said it had been extremely painful to see that Russia, an ally and the country that is closest to Belarus, had acted like this, and called on Russia to stop acting like a superpower, looking down on Belarus condescendingly as if it were a younger brother. The gas price hike could have a serious impact on growth in Belarus, costing around USD 5 billion a year, or 10% of the country's GDP, explained Lukaschenko. He hoped Moscow would act more fairly with Belarus, noting that the authorities in Belarus had not made any fundamental changes in their policy. Their policy was based on the fact that Belarussians and Russians were virtually the same people, he said, adding that he would not tolerate either pressure or untruths in relations with Moscow. Lukaschenko then turned his ire on the EU, slamming it for imperialism, explaining that Belarus had always wanted to sit at the same table as the EU but the visa ban imposed by the EU27 did not facilitate matters. He asked how relations could be re-built in such an atmosphere, describing the policy as being more like the policy implemented by Russia - putting a noose round your neck before telling you to talk. (ab)