“We have no grounds to delay this election, we cannot do that by constitution,” he said.
"Belarus's leader has certainly stolen the show with Saturday's parade but nobody else wanted it anyway.President Lukashenko says Russia offered comprehensive assistance, as protests continued on Saturday. Europe 00:56, 10-May-2020 Belarus defies coronavirus-lockdown as thousands parade to mark end of World War II. Some universities and colleges have cut student numbers travelling at rush hour or have switched lectures online. Smoking might also act as an avenue for getting infected in the first place: smokers touch their lips more and may share contaminated cigarettes.Behavioural factors that differ across genders may also have a role. Big banners went up long before the victory parade was due to take place in Moscow and it was only cancelled in mid-April Very few veterans are still alive. The military has been helping to disinfect areas around hospitals in Minsk Copied. Many parents are keeping their children out of school. Belarus may have been the only European country not to stop its football championship but attendances have fallen dramatically.A World Health Organization delegation visiting in April expressed concern about the lack of measures to slow the spread of coronavirus. Belarus holds massive Victory Day parade despite coronavirus. He has not followed the European pattern of imposing sweeping restrictions.Russia is still under lockdown and for seven days in a row it has recorded more than 10,000 new Covid-19 infections. Daniel Harries Share . Most are in their nineties and very vulnerable to Covid-19.A concert stage and a big screen have been erected in the centre of Minsk with space for hundreds of people. 09 May 2020 15:06 GMT. And I believe that on this day representatives of all states could be here," the president said.Some reports suggest students and staff at universities and state businesses have been told that attendance is voluntary.
While there are higher proportions of male smokers in many countries, the differences are nowhere near as extreme as in China. There is no regional information and journalists have not been allowed to interview medics or see what is going on in hospitals.
We cannot do anything different." President Vladimir Putin made a televised address, highlighting the sacrifice of veterans who "fought for life against death", and laid flowers at a war memorial. President Lukashenko refuses to cancel event as cases of Covid-19 climb to nearly 17,500Russia and other former Soviet countries have cancelled this week’s commemoration to slow the spread of the virus. President Lukashenko said it was unacceptable for his country to even think about cancelling the event. These are external links and will open in a new windowThere were no tanks, and no parade of soldiers and veterans, in the heart of Moscow to mark the 75th anniversary of victory in World War Two.The Red Square 9 May parade was cancelled because of the pandemic but in neighbouring Belarus the parade went ahead in the centre of the capital Minsk, with a concert and festive fireworks planned as part of the programme.Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko appears unfazed by the pandemic. Volunteers have Speaking about the parade, Lukashenko said it should not be cancelled because it was “an emotional and a profoundly ideological thing”.“We should remember that some of those people [who fought in the second world war] might have died of viruses or other diseases, but didn’t always feel that, and they died for us, no matter how pompous this might sound,” Lukashenko said in the remarks, which were translated by the Interfax news service.“And just think what people would say. And Belarusians themselves are aware of the dangers. Our current difficulties pale before the hardships and losses suffered by the heroic generation that saved the world from the brown plague And yet Mr Lukashenko refused to cancel his military parade, since it serves a patriotic purpose: to remind people of Soviet-era hardship and sacrifices. So, as in Russia, Victory Day is a deeply patriotic occasion for many citizens.The Belarusian authorities have registered 21,101 cases of coronavirus, having conducted more than 240,000 tests. Belarusian soldiers rehearsed in Minsk on the eve of the parade The Russian Air Force flew over Red Square and a military parade has been promised later this year.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he hoped "the different methods employed by Russia and Belarus will not bring a sharp increase in the number of those infected".But those different methods have touched off something of a spat. These veterans were honoured by a military band that came to play outside their apartments in Minsk Speaking ahead of the parade, he said: "They gave their lives so we could live today, that's why we can honour our heroes on this sacred day.