Фото: president.gov.by
Aliaksandr Lukashenka said Belarus is prepared to help Poles, Lithuanians and Ukrainians if it has spare funds, but will not engage in charity indefinitely. He made the remarks while speaking at the opening of the Hrodna Regional Clinical Hospital on June 5.
Lukashenka noted that the construction of the hospital had been financed primarily from the national budget. At the same time, he again conflated his personal funds with the state budget.
“Dear wealthy residents of Hrodna, out of 200–300 million rubles, you paid 60–70 million. The rest is my money. It is money from the national budget. So keep that in mind and do not get carried away,” he said.
Lukashenka instructed officials to provide services at the hospital not only to residents of the Hrodna Region and other parts of Belarus, but also to foreign nationals. He added, however, that wealthy foreigners were unlikely to come to Belarus.
“If someone comes and asks for help, provide it. Even if someone comes from Poland, naturally for a fee, support them. Wealthy Poles and Lithuanians will not come here. People like us will come. Ordinary people will come. And how can we not help them?
You see, I made the decision on the visa-free regime, and people are coming to us. More than one million have already arrived. Ukrainians have come and are living here. For them, obtaining our citizenship is a benefit. We do not mistreat anyone,” Lukashenka said.
According to Lukashenka, Belarus is ready to help its neighbours if it has extra resources, but if such resources are unavailable, Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine should pay for assistance.
“We are ready to help. If we have a spare kopeck, we will help Poles, Lithuanians and Ukrainians with our own money. If that money is not available, then we need to reach agreements with them on how to pay for this or that assistance. We will not always engage in charity,” he said.