By Kostas Onisenko
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that no Catholic churches will be closed in the country, but blamed the Catholic Church for propaganda against him.
The statements of the Belarusian politician were made after a wave of reactions erupted as the border guards did not allow the entry of the head of the Catholics Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz.
The incident happened yesterday, and despite the fact that the Metropolitan has Belarusian citizenship, no explanation was given for the denial of his entry into the country. Today, Lukashenko himself tried to justify the decision of the border guards, claiming that Kondrusiewicz has been included in a list of unwanted persons, common in Belarus and Russia.
According to Lukashenko, the Catholic priest suddenly left the country for Warsaw, where “as he undertook a mission he returned to Belarus and was included in this list (of those who are not allowed to enter the country)” stated the disputed President of Belarus.
He further added that there is information that Kondrusiewicz has more than one nationality. “We are conducting research, we want to understand the issue. If everything is clean and in accordance with the law, we will behave according to the law. We do not care if he is the head of the Catholics, Orthodox or Muslims. He must live according to the law. If, in addition to that, he got involved in politics and seduced the faithful, the Catholics, who are wonderful people, then he has a double responsibility,” Lukashenko said. He once again said that Belarus is a very religious country, something that Belarusians are proud of.
Regarding the incident on August 26, when police officers locked dozens of people inside a cathedral in Freedom Square in Minsk and did not allow them to leave for 40 minutes, Lukashenko claimed that in fact the police “protected ” the faithful from the people who protested in the square.
Protests unprecedented for Belarus continue for the third week in a row. Yesterday it was the turn of the university students, who took to the streets demanding the removal of Lukashenko and the holding of democratic elections.
