(BelTA) – Total removal of ethic principles from the economy will backfire on the very economic system making it parasitic and inefficient, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has said speaking at the plenary session of the World Congress of the Russian Press on 20 June, BelTA has learnt.

“We in Belarus were unable and unwilling to embrace rationalistic principles of individualism that underpins the free market philosophy that says that the strongest will survive. Kindness, respect for a human being, helping the weak are the supreme Christian values that have always inspired the Russian civilization. They constitute the basis of the Belarusian socio-economic model,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

Alexander Lukashenko noted that Belarus rejected radical reforms because they would ruin hundreds of thousands of lives. “The principles of solidarity and mutual assistance have made the basis of our social policy. This policy encourages the society to be happy for successes of the strong and to support the weak and protect the underprivileged,” the head of state said.

The President underlined that the principle of justice is equally important: “We have never advocated equality in poverty. However, we respect only those who earned their money and wealth in an honest way, by painstaking work and talent, not by a chance or by cheating or stealing.”

“There is no conspicuous gap between the rich and the poor in Belarus. There is no property that was stolen from people. We have made it clear for our own selves that the economic system based on sheer deceit cannot be steady. Those who acquired wealth without earning it will not be able to make good use of it. Only those who grew rich owing to their hard work and talent will be able to manage their money efficiently,” the head of state believes.

The President noted that the pillars of the Belarusian statehood and what is called the Belarusian development model are moral values and cultural achievements that were created by the Russian civilization and the Russian-speaking world. “Solidarity and justice are the two words that can most fully describe the principles we adhere to,” the head of state said.

Addressing the participants of the World Congress of the Russian Press, Alexander Lukashenko noted that although they represent different countries and although the mass media they work for express different views on global developments, they are all united by the great, rich and wise Russian language. “It is the Russian language that creates the unique spiritual space uniting millions of people from all over the world,” the President said.

Alexander Lukashenko noted that Belarus has a special attitude to the Russian language. “I remember very well the storm of criticism I received from our local radicals-nationalists after I said that the Russian language is a native tongue for Belarusian people and it is a common heritage of Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians… I stick to the same view today. The Russian language was at the root of the great Russian culture that is also a common heritage of many peoples, including us, provided we understand the notion of the Russian culture and the Russian civilization in a broad meaning of the word,” the head of state said. He added that Belarus managed to build a peaceful and quiet country where no one would ever think of harassing others just because they speak “the wrong” language.