OREANDA-NEWS. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that the Belarusian leadership had never thought about the possibility of the country joining the European Union. He said this on Friday at a meeting at the Academy of Management. “Neither I nor my government thought about this and didn’t set such a goal”, said Lukashenko, quoted by a news agency. But, indeed, if we had joined the European Union today, they would have had no problems with us at all".

In this regard, Lukashenko said that he reads a variety of information, including closed information: “Our intelligence once reported to me one material where they evaluate Belarus, Lukashenko said. And what surprised me, it was about two years ago, they say: “The most advanced country in Eastern Europe and around the European Union, ready to enter the European Union without any changes in legislation, is Belarus”.

The President is convinced that even the preservation of the death penalty in Belarus would not become a barrier. "The people will vote - we’ll cancel. Our referendum has passed", he said.