By Anastasiya Salanovich, BelaPAN 22 April 2013, 17:08
Alyaksandr Lukashenka on Friday attacked the European Union over a deal to save Cyprus from bankruptcy that involves a controversial tax on bank deposits.
The crisis-hit EU country has recently announced that holders of deposits of more than €100,000 will lose up to 60 percent of the amount, a decision that it had to take to receive vital loans from the EU and the International Monetary Fund.
Answering a question asked by a member of the House of Representative, Mr. Lukashenka stressed that Belarus would never take money away from savers. "We would never pick another`s pocket and take away another`s money like democrats have done in the European Union," he said.
Mr. Lukashenka suggested that the move was aimed against Russia but expressed certainty that the latter would not be affected seriously. "What does this $20 billion or $30 billion that democratic Europe has taken away from Cyprus mean to Russia? This is a tiny amount. But we have now seen democracy in great detail," he said.
"Now not a single European politician has the right to reproach a Russian, Ukrainian or Belarusian or anyone else in the post-Soviet territory for being undemocratic. Because the most undemocratic acts are where you take away property," he said.
