BBC: I have seen your biography in your official Website and paid attention to what you were saying at the All Belarus People's Assembly. You said you managed, among other things, to have guarded your country against mafia clans, not to let criminals turn into a political force and force their way to power, not to embezzle the common property of the people, not to get hold of foreign loans, not to get into debts that the following generations would have to pay. Russia, however, has all of these vices. Why then do you need a union with a country like that?

A. Lukashenko: You know, there are many countries, members of various unions, which fell victims to vices. At the same time, the same unions comprise the states, which have guarded themselves against these vices. Let's look at West European countries, at the European Union, the EU. If one takes any of these criteria, one will see a great difference between these states, the difference is great indeed. Some states are quite entangled, they have become inflicted by corruption, especially those, which are now going to accede to the European Union. Just look, what's happening in the post-socialist, post-Soviet space.