Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko believes that depriving Minsk of the World Hockey Championship would be the wrong decision, as he believes there is no reason for it to happen.
As you know, this year’s World Cup should take place in Minsk and Riga, but given that the situation in Belarus after the presidential election, which was not legitimate, is dramatic, it is unlikely to happen. Previously, there was a version that Latvia could organize the tournament alone or together with another country, such as Denmark or Slovakia.
“There is no reason to move the World Cup from Minsk even a millimeter,” Lukashenko told Russia-1. “It would be a great disgrace and we are ready to host the world championship tomorrow.”
In his turn, the Secretary General of the Latvian Hockey Federation (LHF) Viesturs Koziols recently revealed in the program “Ģērbtuve” that even before the beginning of the political crisis in Belarus, the situation in the country was not taken into account. half. Later, when the situation worsened, the LHF realized that the World Cup with Minsk was not possible due to the political situation, and the Minsk side had not responded for a long time to the LHF letter expressing a sharp view of what was happening in Belarus and participation in the murder.
The European Union and a number of its Member States have refused to recognize Lukashenko as President of Belarus due to a lack of democratic legitimacy in both the electoral and inauguration processes. Many people in Belarus are outraged by what is happening, so they have been taking to the streets and protesting for several months. To curb the protests, police in Minsk are even shooting at people with rubber bullets and arresting innocent protesters. At the very beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Lukashenko also declared that the virus did not exist and that companies that would refuse to work due to the coronavirus would not be supported.
