Discrepancies in Lukashenka's statements
Alyaksandr Lukashenka made a lot of statements on January 15. Euroradio has checked whether they were true.
“Halip refused to leave the state. She understands that she is a victim here and that nobody needs her abroad," the state leader claimed answering some question.
“There is Lukashenka with his emotions that may not be controlled by any sense, and there is the computer that has our names. That's it," said Iryna Halip.
She is still watched by the police every day and is not allowed to leave the state, the journalist of "Novaya Hazeta" says. Another hearing of her case will be held in seven months.
It is not the first time Lukashenka has claimed that Halip can leave the state. Her very name causes an emotional reaction in the Belarusian state leader, the journalist thinks.
Lukashenka has also explained that he is not afraid of the fact that Lithuania will preside in the EU. He said that the EU will not be allocating 2 or 3 billion dollars a year to Lithuania in 2015. Only a fool would confront in this situation because "we send 10 million tons of goods to their port", he claimed.
However, the subsidies are not that simple, Kaunas University professor Gintautas Mažeikis explained to Euroradio.
“The EU may be allocating even more billions. But Lithuania pays the same sum to the EU and gets a similar sum through projects. The EU budget will be revised in 2015 and all the programmes will change. We will be getting less in some fields and more - in others."
The expert is surprised at Lukashenka's words that Belarusians create 30% of Lithuania's budget.
Gintautas Mažeikis: “No reports or statistics can prove that Lithuania depends on Belarus by 30%."
Lukashenka was also surprised by tut.by representative's remark that teachers have to do a lot of paper work.
"I allow you (teachers) not to write anything. But good knowledge that can be demonstrated at tests should be your product."
Euroradio and teacher Vasil who has worked in Brest Province for 35 years have counted all the documents that teachers have to prepare. There are at least 10 (!) folders of them. One folder contains from 50 to 100 sheets. You need classroom plans, new lesson technologies, self-education folders, plans of work with gifted and poorly performing pupils, the grade system folder, reports about all school events and a monitoring of children's performance. Teaches have to give written accounts about every breath they take. Every teacher needs to prepare for a political information lesson and make a report about it every week - they even get extra 3-5 thousand roubles for it.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka also recalled his visit to the Nursing Home for Veterans of Labour at the press conference.
"I cannot say that the conditions are bad. Everyone envies us because our elderly people live in such conditions. The average age there is 93 years. We do not have such indexes in the rest of our society!"
Euroradio has asked the nursing home about its dwellers' age.
"The average age is 86. The oldest inhabitant was born in 1915, he will turn 98. The veterans counted during the meeting that 7 people were going to celebrate their 95th birthday and 11 - their 90th anniversary."
The nursing home representatives do not know the average life span of the inhabitants but there are a lot of veterans older than 90.
Answering Euroradio's question, the state leader noted that he "was not informed" twice. Lukashenka did not know if Ales Byalyatski was still in prison and whether "black lists" of musicians existed. The President learns a lot about our country at press conferences.
Photo by: Zmitser Lukashuk
