Tsikhanouskaya: On April 2, the regime celebrates the most cynical holiday
The democratic leader commented on the so-called Day of Unity of the Peoples of Belarus and Russia, which is officially celebrated in the two countries today.
«On April 2, the regime celebrates almost the most cynical so-called holiday — the 'Day of Unity of Belarus and Russia'. The truth is that this 'unity' is just a facade, behind which everything always looks like this: the slow destruction of our identity and independence," she says.
«In the Kremlin, they love to repeat the same thing: 'we are one people'. But for some reason, specifically 'Russian'. For them, the Belarusian language is just a dialect of Russian. Our unique culture — rural charm, true history — is just a small addition to their rewritten and all-encompassing 'great and Russian'. This union was never considered by Russia as equal, because it was made for the slow destruction of our identity and independence. So that later Belarus would simply dissolve into the 'Russian world' they dream so much about. As Karel Havlíček Borovský said — Russians often call everything Russian 'Slavic', so that they can later call everything Slavic 'Russian'.
But Belarusian history is not Russian. It is European: the Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, cities with Magdeburg rights, Skaryna, our schools, literature, the tradition of self-government. Nothing in common with simply being a 'younger brother'.
The fact that Russia is everywhere in Belarus today is not friendship, but a price that Alexander Lukashenka has been paying for 30 years out of the pockets of Belarusians so that they would help him maintain power.
However, for this, Belarusians pay with their security, sovereignty, and future. Belarusians do not need such unity. We need a Belarus that decides for itself where to go, whom to befriend, and how to live. A Belarus where our language, our choice, and our dignity are respected.
We are a dignified people of Belarus, and we will never be younger brothers. Because we know who we are," noted Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
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