MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th August, 2020) The Belarusian opposition coordination council backs maintaining deep relations with Russia, ex-culture minister and council member Pavel Latushko said on Wednesday, vehemently dismissing accusations of striving to cut off relations with the neighboring giant.
The coordination council was announced earlier in the day by ex-presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya to facilitate the peaceful transfer of power from embattled President Alexander Lukashenko.
"They are trying to accuse us all the time that there is supposedly some kind of program to break or limit relations with Russia. This is absolute nonsense. This is not true. Such a program did not exist, and has never been discussed, and is not worth discussing in the future," Latushko told reporters in Minsk.
The now-opposition candidate underscored that it would be unthinkable for Belarus to attempt to distance itself from Russia.
"We do not seek to revise the foreign policy priorities of our country at all. They exist, and we proceed from those that exist today: the warmest, deepest relations with the Russian Federation, because the politician who proposes to build a wall between Belarus and Russia will be the last politician in Belarus. Russia is the first market for the export of Belarusian products," Latushko stressed.
The ex-culture minister went on to say that Belarus remains part of the European civilization and is interested in deepening ties with the European Union, as it is Belarus' second largest market.
Belarus plunged into protests after the presidential election results showed longtime President Alexander Lukashenko win over 80 percent of the vote to claim a sixth term as president. The opposition, coalesced around unlikely contender Tikhanovskaya, disputed the result and has been taking to the streets daily since.
Early into the rallies, the security forces utilized tear gas, water cannons, stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, but the heavy use of force has since subsided.
According to official data, more than 6,700 people were detained in the early days of the unrest. Hundreds of others have been injured during the riots, including more than 150 law enforcement officers, and three protesters have died.
