More than 80 delegations from around the world gathered for the ceremony, including presidents, prime ministers, representatives of royal families, and international organizations such as NATO, UNESCO, the European Council, and the European Commission.
The event was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, Estonian President Alar Karis, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Czech President Petr Pavel, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, and Slovak President Peter Pellegrini.
Among the royal representatives at the event were the King of the United Kingdom, the King and Queen of Spain, the King and Queen of Belgium, and others.
Pavel Latushka: "Twenty years ago, I had the honor of being here at the ceremony for the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. At that time, Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski sent an invitation to Lukashenko for this ceremony. But Lukashenko did not accept this invitation because he was afraid. He was afraid that Belarusian organizations and Jewish organizations from around the world might protest his presence at this important historical site. He did not come – he sent the head of his parliament instead.
Now, twenty years later, at the commemorative events, the Belarusian delegation is led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. I also have the honor of being here with her. Twenty years have passed, and there is no longer even a question of whether Lukashenko will be invited here. He will never receive this invitation, because he does not have the right to represent Belarus and the Belarusian people, especially in this historical place, a site of global remembrance for the victims of Nazism".
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