Lukashenko calls European Commission president an ass

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RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED April 27, 2011

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko named European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso an "ass" on Tuesday for asking the Ukrainian leadership to exclude him from a conference on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Ukraine marks on Tuesday the 25th anniversary of a deadly explosion at the No 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Belarus was severely affected by radiation leaks from the damaged reactor.

"Who does that ass Barroso think he is anyway?" Lukashenko said. "There was once a Barroso in Portugal, but they kicked him out put him to work in the European Commission instead."

He said he did not attend commemorative events in Chernobyl on Tuesday because the Ukrainian leadership is "lousy."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday visited St. Ilya Chernobyl Cathedral, the only church within the exclusion zone in the area of the devastated Chernobyl nuclear plant.

"Some people might enjoy going there to lay wreaths," Lukashenko said. "I prefer to see with my own eyes, what needs to be done here."

Topics: Europe, Belarus

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