NEWS ITEM: When addressing the nation on Aug. 4, 2020, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said, metaphorically speaking, that he fed many of his current political opponents like his own children and called them traitors. Lukashenko’s speech came after the opposition protests sparked in Belarus before the upcoming Aug. 9 presidential election. The longest-serving president in Europe, Lukashenko, known for sharp criticism of his opposition, said that only he can rescue the country while dissidents will destroy it and privatize everything.