Seviarynets: The path Babaryka is pursuing is not mine. And Kalesnikava could grow into a great Belarusian politician
Pavel Seviarynets suggested that Babaryka and Kalesnikava speak Belarusian at the press conference in Ukraine, but they did not heed his advice.
As Pavel Seviarynets mentioned in an interview with Belsat, before the press conference that took place the day after a group of political prisoners were released, he had the opportunity to speak with Viktar Babaryka and Maryia Kalesnikava. And the first thing Pavel advised his interlocutors was to speak publicly in Belarusian.
«We were sitting in the same room and talking. I suggested speaking in Belarusian. Perhaps we don't truly think in Belarusian, we think more in Russian. But, I believe that this advice still stands. To prepare well and speak in Belarusian, to speak from the perspective of national interests – that means being an adequate Belarusian politician now.»
According to Seviarynets, he was not personally acquainted with Viktar Babaryka before 2020, only knew who he was. Despite human respect for the ex-banker's resilience in prison conditions, Pavel distances himself from his political views:
«As a person, I regard him normally, especially since he endured such difficult conditions. But politically, the path he pursued then (in 2020 — NN) and the one he is pursuing now — it's not mine. And I think it's not what Belarus needs.»
With Maryia Kalesnikava, according to Seviarynets, the situation is different:
«She has a good Malady Front history. In her youth, she participated in Malady Front actions and was even one of the winners of the «DJs of Revival» leadership courses. I know she has very good Belarusian language skills. I advised her when we met — and I still strongly advise her now — to speak in Belarusian, to be imbued with Belarusian national interests. A great Belarusian woman politician could emerge from her. She would simply be a star.»
Returning to his suggestion to speak in Belarusian at the press conference, Seviarynets mentioned that several people «said that perhaps it was not necessary and so on.»
«It's hard for me to say why, because people had just been released from prison. Perhaps it was simply the result of what they had endured. These people actively entered politics in 2020,» Seviarynets reflects.
Seviarynets himself emphasizes: his own experience of political struggle dates back to the late 1990s, and he «roughly understands what can happen when, in Ukraine, which is fighting Russia, one publicly speaks on behalf of Belarusians in Russian.» «This is simply a political mistake. One should not do such a thing.»
«Well, you can't put your thoughts into people's heads. However it turned out — that's how it turned out,» the politician notes with sorrow, adding that based on the results of the press conference, «Belarusians drew their conclusions, but politicians and those who speak on behalf of Belarusians should also draw their conclusions.»
«After 2020, after these years of war, it became absolutely clear: the Belarusian language is also part of a political stance. Without the Belarusian language, there can be no Belarusian political stance. And it cannot even be, you know, a folklore element. «I'll say a few phrases somewhere.» No. It must be the essence, it must be the meaning,» Seviarynets argues.
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Бабарыканцы - гэта рух для тожебелорусов ці русских со знаком качества.