MOSCOW, 8 October (BelTA) – There is no link between the national self-identification aspirations that exist in the Belarusian society with the protests that took place after the election, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas said in an interview with the RT channel, BelTA has learned.
Stanislav Zas noted that national sentiments have been growing in all CSTO countries. "If we understand them, of course, as the interest in one's own history, culture, identity, the desire to identify more as a nation. We see this happening in all our countries and there is nothing wrong with this. If this process goes beyond a certain scope, results in intolerance, cultural, ethnic, or religious one, then this paints a different picture. But I would not say that this process has taken such forms to pose any threats."
When asked whether nation's self-identification aspirations influenced the events that took place in Belarus in August, the CSTO secretary general said: “No, I don't think this had an impact. There were aspirations in the Belarusian society to self identify, to find an answer to the question ‘who we Belarusians are?' before. It is normal.”
