MINSK, 24 February (BelTA) – Belarus managed to stop nationalistic frenzy back in the 1990s while Ukraine followed the way of the ultranationalist Stepan Bandera, BelTA learned from Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko on 24 February.
The head of state reminded that nationalism was all the rage in the 1990s, at the beginning of his presidential career. Proponents of these destructive ideas started lobbying them primarily in the education system, in schools in a bid to cross out the historical memory, including memory about the heroic role of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. “We doubted whether our nation would recover from that or not. It turns out it could. Some people didn't exactly forget but their memory was gone. They understood what had happened but were intent on telling things otherwise. This is why we could not have relaxed and we must not relax now,” Aleksandr Lukashenko is convinced. He remarked that as the president of the country he suggested a different policy and the nation approved of this policy, including during referendums.
“Because things were happening simultaneously in Ukraine, in Belarus, and in liberal Russia,” Aleksandr Lukashenko reminded. “If we had not stopped nationalistic frenzy, things would be roughly the same in Belarus [as they are in Ukraine].”
“We've stopped this nationalistic frenzy,” the Belarusian leader stated. “We understood that we had to do it. While Ukraine chose the way of the ultranationalist Stepan Bandera. Such things cannot be allowed. [The WW2 memorial] Khatyn remembers.”
