Pavel Latushka: Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, Head of the National Anti-Crisis Management, Ambassador
Can you imagine an independent Belarus, in whose capital foreign troops would march on Independence Day? Probably not. Yet, here we are, with Russian soldiers marching around Minsk, waving Russian tricolors and singing “Russia is behind us!”
Are they lost? Do they not know geography? Do they not understand where they are? No, they understand everything perfectly. In their minds, an independent Belarus simply does not exist.
So, tell me, how do you like this “Independence Day”? Independence from whom? From Belarusians themselves? And what does the notorious “guarantor of sovereignty” named Lukashenko have to say about this? The same man who stood in the Palace of the Republic and spoke about Belarusian statehood, sovereignty, and national security.
Let me get this straight: the soldiers of a country currently waging war against Ukraine, with the goal of destroying Ukraine as a state, are marching through our capital in the interests of our national security? Perhaps it was in the interests of our national security that the Russian army invaded Ukraine from Belarus? Is the destruction of a neighboring state in the interests of our independence? Are Russian nuclear weapons on our territory a sign of our strong sovereignty?
Perhaps this year Lukashenko should simply rename his holiday to “Independence Day of the Union State”? After all, how else can he justify the Russian soldiers marching in the Belarusian parade under the slogan “Russia is behind us,” the columns of Russian equipment adorned with St. George ribbons and Russian tricolors? He talks about the choice of the Belarusian people — but the Belarusian people made no such choice.
The truth is, when Lukashenko talks about the importance of sovereignty and independence, he is lying. And the more often he uses these words, the more obvious his lie becomes. And the less sovereignty remains in Belarus.
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