Germany blasts ‘dictator’ Lukashenko over gay remarks

The German government has rebuked Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko for making statements concerning German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. Lukashenko said, “It’s better to be a dictator than gay,” after Westerwelle last week complained of human rights abuses in Belarus. He also called Lukashenko’s government the last dictatorship in Europe. Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert noted on Monday that Lukashenko did not refute what Westerwelle had said. AP quoted Seibert as saying, “it is interesting that even Mr. Lukashenko views himself now as a dictator.”