On 8 April, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko appointed Vladimir Pertsov as Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration. Until now, Vladimir Pertsov has served as the Minister of Information of Belarus.
"Today, ideological work is coming to the fore. And the decision has been taken to send you to the presidential administration to run the country's information sphere. In appointing the Deputy Chief of Staff for Economic Affairs (I'm sure you've traced it), I told him that we should somehow focus and lead, build a pyramid. There are a lot of good experts - in departments, in agencies, in government - and they are bringing the Deputy Chief of Staff to work in the economy. In the same way, we need to tighten up the mass media, get all the ideological work in order and bring it to the deputy head of the presidential administration. Maybe even have a commission under his leadership to advise and respond in a timely manner," the head of state said.
Alexander Lukashenko noted that Vladimir Pertsov has good experience in the information sphere. Previously, he worked, among other things, as head of radio and television at the regional level, headed the representative office of MTRK Mir in Belarus. "A very solid company, respected by me. I have always had a good relationship with it. It was your period when this company was rising," the head of state noted.
"I would be happy if things could be put right in Belarus. I mean ideological work. You can talk to people. That's rare for a human being. I always say that it's a piece goods when one can do ideological work. It's not just to come, as we used to have a political information day on Thursday: you have - you don't, who can - who can't, we talked and often to our detriment," the president said.
"I think this radical step - from the post of minister to the head of mass media, ideological work in the country - is a necessary and useful step in this direction," Alexander Lukashenko said. - He has a lot of work ahead of him. But it is very independent work. You should not think that someone - either the head of the administration or someone else - will manage this work. No, it's entirely your organizational work. And the head of administration and everyone else, including me, will be helping you. But this work has to be organised. I hope you'll do that.
Alexander Lukashenko outlined the current issues of ideological work: 'Specifically, propaganda and counter-propaganda. These issues are very topical in this difficult period for our country. If I do not say the most difficult.
"Of course, as far as possible, I inform the society and our people about the main points. But I would not like to strain the situation so that people become worried, concerned. But I realize that the situation is not simple. And everything is converging in the media," said Alexander Lukashenko. - Now these sectors of our life play a key role in the development of Belarus. There is an information war going on, especially in the media. An economic war, there is no other way to call it. We are doing everything we can to save the country from a hot war. So far, we are succeeding. I think we will manage to solve this problem - to prevent a clash, as has always been the case in Belarus.
The President pointed out that refugees are the initiators of everything. "We know exactly what they are doing there. They are running around to various decision-making centres and advisors from America to Brussels asking for money. And most importantly, 'Give it to the media, give it to the media, give it to the media'. And the curators tell them, "Guys, we've been in the media before, we need something hotter." And so it happens. Like in Crocus City in Moscow, God forbid, terrorist attacks. And an armed confrontation in Belarus. The goal is to enter Belarus and seize at least a piece of the country, declare their power and call in foreign... Well, not mercenaries, but soldiers. They're "authorities".
The head of state stressed that Belarus understands and sees this, including how much money is allocated for this. "You talk about it in the media with sincerity and honesty, it's really true. The money is stolen, there is little of it," he said.
In this context, Alexander Lukashenko mentioned a fresh media review, including media sources of his opponents, prepared for him. "From them (not from our counter-propaganda) it spilled over into the media - into those chats and Telegram channels - where they objectively say (we knew and know about it) who puts money in their pockets, where the money goes, what kind of watches and trousers someone wears - they all describe each other," the president noted. - This is how it will go on. Because there are more radical people who care about more than just wearing a $9,000 watch or a nice suit and makeup. They want to fight and seize power. There are those who are trying to make money out of it. I have warned law enforcement and our security services that this will happen. This is what happened.
The Head of State has generally stressed that the situation is not simple and that it is sometimes difficult to navigate, and refugees are constantly pushing this information agenda. "Now they are collecting all the dirt. Here we met you - wait, from tomorrow they will start turning you inside out and rewriting where you travelled, flew, what you did, who you met. And so on and so forth. That's their agenda now. What we delicately call information and psychological operations. That's what they're banking on. Although their handlers are bent on armed confrontation. Both are not easy.
"These poor souls were thrown into Ukraine, they are called 'Kalinovsky's Regiment'. There are more than a hundred people there. How they fight - we know that too. But I don't really understand the Ukrainians - why they feel the need to worsen relations with Belarus. In this situation, where two states, in fact one nation, have clashed head-on, a third force is always needed. And in this case, it turned out that Belarus and Russia will need such a peaceful, calm and Ukraine," said Alexander Lukashenko.
"But I see that even Volodymyr Zelensky is beginning to hook us and tie us to incomprehensible processes," the president noted. - I don't know why Vladimir Alexandrovich Zelensky is doing this. Look at the behaviour of the Russian President. He is very careful, cautious. He understands: sooner or later we will come to peace anyway. What kind of peace it will be - that's up to them, that's not our question. But they will need a calm, peaceful Belarus.
"No, they're starting to tweak, screw things up. And I can't take offence at the (Ukrainian) army. The army is behaving more or less cautiously, prudently. Even though they are doing their job, their dirty work - with these terrorist attacks, attacks and so on. We know it well from the border with Ukraine," the Belarusian leader added.
Alexander Lukashenko has instructed to wage an information battle with opponents solely on the basis of true facts.
"If an information and psychological operation is needed, we can do it easily. But the basis of everything is the truth," the Belarusian leader stressed. - Any psychological operations are worthless if they are not based on the truth. We don't need to make anything up. Take, for example, information and psychological operations at the border. Why should we lie? Look how many dead bodies are lying on the border today. It's snowing. It's horrible. I get the news every morning. They're dumping more. Here are the psychological operations - film and show the villains who kill people - migrants - and dump them on our territory. This is an example. And there are many such examples.
Alexander Lukashenko noted that all these facts need to be collected and informed to the people. "We must prepare our people in advance for what may be, especially in the era of artificial intelligence. There will be a lot of lies," he said.
president.gov.by/gnews.cz-JaV
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