The President of Belarus took to social media

On Thursday, Alexander Lukashenko gave an hour-and-a-half interview to American blogger Mario Naufal. Belarusian media have noted his proximity to Elon Musk. The President shared with the interviewer his attitude towards rare earth metals and announced upcoming talks with Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, the board of the Ministry of Information stated that the agency should regulate all media content consumed by Belarusians.

American blogger Mario Naufala, to whom Alexander Lukashenko gave an extensive and candid interview on Thursday, is described by the media as “Elon Musk’s protege, who is tasked with forming the so-called new media social networks.” The BelTA News Agency claims: “His live broadcasts and numerous posts cover a wide range of topics, from the latest news to cryptocurrency trends.” Naufal’s Round Table project, a video interview with prominent political and public figures, is published on a platform owned by the same Mask, and the number of views varies from 200 thousand to 34 million.

However, among the most high-profile guests are mainly politicians with the prefix ex-. Among them are former Hungarian President Katalin Novak, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. And besides them, again, Elon Musk.

The president shared with the blogger some intimate knowledge and disturbing assumptions. For example, he said: “As for these rare earth materials, I raised the issue, I say: it’s strange somehow – the Americans are demanding that Ukraine give them the most important thing, what they have. It’s not just about rare earth materials in the United States. But we are talking about natural gas, oil, logistics (ports), etc. There is also a broader issue here. And I explained my position to Putin in this way. To which he said that “the Americans are banging on the open door, everything is in Russia, we can negotiate and work with them.” And then he publicly announced it.”

In addition, Lukashenko believes that the agreement between the United States and Ukraine on rare earth metals may alarm Russia.

“I think so. I have not discussed these issues with Russia or with Putin. We will discuss this issue. But most likely, this may be alarming if Russia feels that these agreements will go beyond economic relations. If it’s going to be a pure economy, not related to the military-industrial complex, weapons, or the armed forces, why not? Russia will work calmly,” the Belarusian leader noted.

However, he admitted that he plans to discuss the recent situation in detail with Vladimir Putin next week during a personal meeting.

However, the Belarusian president is already confident that Russia will not agree that EU peacekeeping troops will be sent to Ukraine. “Regarding the deployment of peacekeeping forces there. Russia will never agree with this. At least this is Russia’s current position. Moreover, the leadership of the European Union, primarily represented by Germany and France, is taking a very aggressive position at the moment,” Lukashenko said. – I don’t know if Trump succeeded in negotiations with Macron (the French president. – “NG”) and Starmer (the Prime Minister of Great Britain. – NG) to persuade them towards peace and peaceful negotiations, but you can see that they are taking a very aggressive position towards the war between Russia and Ukraine.”

While the president was talking with the blogger, the final board of the Ministry of Information was held in Minsk. Trust in state-owned media has grown by more than 21% since 2021, Information Minister Marat Markov triumphantly told reporters.

But the ministry faces the daunting task of taking control of the entire media content. Vladimir Pertsov, Deputy head of the Presidential Administration, said: “The Ministry of Information should become a regulatory body, a home not only for the so-called traditional media, but also for those who generally shape the media landscape of our country. These include online publications, online resources, popular bloggers, anonymous Telegram channels – in general, everyone who creates content. All those who shape people’s worldview. All those who form the agenda.”

The official reasonably noted that modern people receive information from very different sources – from traditional newspapers, radio and television to social networks. But, according to Pertsov, what he is calling for is not censorship at all. At least, he believes that protecting the population from fake information and the influence of various destructive forces cannot be called censorship. Because those who produce such content, in his opinion, do not wish the citizens well, unlike him and his colleagues.

“These are not friends and not those who want the best for the Republic of Belarus, for the Belarusian people,” Vladimir Pertsov stressed. At the same time, he is sure that the majority of his fellow citizens are already aware of this. And the indicator of this is the results of the presidential election.

“The last election campaign is in many ways proof that we are in control of our information field. We adequately resist stuffing and fakes. And people have become more mature, they have become wiser, they have learned to sort and separate outright false information, insidious information aimed at creating a negative background, negative emotions in people, from the truth, from information that deserves attention,” Vladimir Pertsov emphasized.