Belarus shrugs off Polish call for president's resignation

Belarus paid no mind to a call by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski for Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to leave office, a Belarusian official told local media Wednesday.

Sikorski had previously urged the Belarusian president, who had been in office for 17 years, to negotiate a peaceful handover of power. "The cause of the Belarusian economic hardship and political isolation is 'lukanomics' in the economy and political sphere," he said.

The statements by the Polish foreign minister were very "exotic," Belarusian Foreign Ministry Press-Secretary Andrei Savinykh said. However, Belarus would only smile at rather than be alarmed by Sikorski's words, as "it is obvious that he is in a parallel or a virtual reality," he said.