The decision to celebrate Independence Day on 3 July was adopted in a nationwide referendum on 24 November 1996. In December 1996 Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed an ordinance to establish a state holiday – Day of Independence of the Republic of Belarus (Day of the Republic). It is marked on the day Minsk was liberated from the Nazi invaders – 3 July 1944. Belarus celebrated the first Independence Day in 1997.
