Lukashenko said that Belarus will perish as a state if new elections are allowed

“The NATO leadership calls on us to organize new elections in the country. If we follow their lead, we will perish as a state”, - TASS quoted Lukashenko as saying.

During his speech, the incumbent president said that he considers the elections held in the country to be valid. According to him, the results of voting cannot be falsified when more than 80% of voters vote for the incumbent.

Lukashenko added that he did not want to call his supporters to the square, but he had to do it. To all citizens who support him and do not, he addressed the question of what freedom they want and what changes they expect. He explained the presence of security officials in the squares with the need to calm down the protesters, radio Sputnik Belarus reports.

As the Belarusian edition tut.by notes, during the president's speech, people greeted him, shouted out from the crowd “We love you”, and also chanted “For Batka (Father of the nation)”, “For Belarus” and “Batka is great”.

Also at the rally on Sunday, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus Yuri Karaev spoke . He said that he would not resign, as the opposition demands, since his resignation "will demoralize the personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and make the security situation in the country uncontrollable."

Let us remind you that the first rally in support of Lukashenko is being held in the center of Minsk on Sunday. Earlier, after the presidential elections, residents of the republic went to rallies against the voting results. Factory workers go on strike. Residents of the country believe that the elections were rigged. Not a single opposition candidate recognized the voting results. All of them filed complaints with the CEC with a request to recount the votes and declare the last elections invalid, but the CEC rejected all complaints. The opposition called for new fair elections on 15 September.

It is reported that several thousand people have already gathered at the rally in support of Lukashenko. The police cordoned off the territory and allowed to participate in the rally only after a search. According to tut.by, workers of state enterprises who gathered in support of Lukashenko were forced to come to this rally in support of the president under threat of dismissal. Those who came to the rally refuse to communicate with journalists.