Alexander Lukashenko

An authoritarian style of rule is characteristic of me, and I have always admitted it.

Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko (born 30 August 1954) is the President of Belarus, having been in office since 20 July 1994. Before his career as a politician, Lukashenko worked as director of a state-owned agricultural farm and spent time with the Soviet Border Troops and the Soviet Army.

Quotes

People who speak Belarusian can not do anything except talk on it, because it is impossible to express anything great in Belarusian. The Belarusian language is a poor language. There are only two great languages in the world. Russian and English.
- As quoted in Топ-10 самых скандальных и оскорбительных высказываний Лукашенко // Civil campaign European Belarus, europeanbelarus.org (in Russian)

My position and the state will never allow me to become a dictator, but an authoritarian style of rule is characteristic of me, and I have always admitted it. You need to control the country, and the main thing is not to ruin people's lives.
- Statement (August 2003), as quoted in BBC - Profile: Alexander Lukashenko (9 January 2007).

We have rigged the latest election. 93.5 per cent have voted for Lukashenko. But they say it is not a European outcome. We have made it 86 per cent.
- Press conference for Ukrainian journalists (November 2006), as quoted in "Lukashenka Must be Dismissed From Office For Rigging Presidential Elections Results" in Charter97 (23 November 2006).

I look at Obama, a young man, a good-looking person. That is my first impression, I feel sorry for him. He looks 100% like Lukashenko, when I came to power after the downfall of the Soviet Union. The store shelves were empty, a severe financial crisis.
- As quoted in The Wall Street Journal - Belarus President Seeks to Deploy Russia Missiles (14 November 2008).

Aggression has been committed, and the country's leadership, not only Muammar Gaddafi, has been killed. And how was it killed? Well, if they had shot him in a battle, it's one thing, but they humiliated and tormented him, they shot at him, they violated him when he was wounded, they twisted his neck and arms, and then they tortured him to death. It's worse than the Nazis once did. Besides, the United States, Italy, France and Germany have up to $150 billion of Libyan money now. They are very interested to grab this wealth. Everything will be even worse in Libya, because it has colossal deposits of resources, and everyone has rushed there to grab those riches.
- Reaction upon the death of Muammar Gaddafi, (3 November 2011) .

If someone is a lesbian, it's man's fault.
- Comment about lesbians (2011), as seen on National Television of Belarus: Lukashenko about gays and lesbians.

As for those who are screaming about dictatorship...when I hear that come up I think that it is better to be a dictator - than to be gay.
- Response to criticism from German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, interview at a skiing event (4 March 2012). .

I view the collapse of the Soviet Union as a disaster that entailed and still brings about negative consequences around the world. We got nothing good from this break-up.
- As quoted in "Lukashenko views Soviet Union collapse as disaster", BelTA, September 30, 2016.

I wish luck to you and your nation that loves you, as the election results we can see testify.
- Silvio Berlusconi in Minsk, as quoted in Results of the official visit of Silvio Berlusconi to Belarus, 1 Dec. 2009, from belarus.by.

I cannot write in Minsk. Firstly, I have a cold apartment. I will die there with my sick lungs soon. Because the presidential decree introduced the maximum temperature in Minsk... He [Lukashenka] does not need Bykau. He has a close-knit and strong cohort of own writers, who write his biographies. They write about him, describe his life. And it's enough for Lukashenka. He does not perceive anything else. The things that Lukashenko is doing are aimed at the complete elimination of the sovereignty of Belarus. He completely enslaves the people.
- “Ён Прыехаў, Сам Памёр, Усё Спакойна…” Апошнія Тыдні Васіля Быкава // svaboda.org
  (in Belarusian)

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