ST PETERSBURG, 18 July (BelTA) – Ties between regions of Belarus and Russia took decades to evolve and were largely shaped by the common history and shared fates of the people. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the relevant statement in his speech during the plenary session of the 6th Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia on 18 July, BelTA has learned.
The Belarusian leader said: “Belarusians and Russians have gone through many trials and have endured them together with honor!”
“We have nothing to be ashamed of in our history. We should hold it sacred. Because it is our greatest legacy. When the West criticizes us – more in the past, slightly less these days and not because they have more conscience now – I tell them: you have yet to settle accounts with us for the final war that you brought to us, for the war we didn't recover from for seven decades. This is why you should be careful when you speak about human rights, democracy, and deliver other unjustified criticisms at times,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated.
“Here, in the heroic land of Leningrad I would like to say once again: memory of that war is sacred for Belarusians,” the Belarusian leader stressed. “This year we've come up to another historic milestone – the 75th anniversary of lifting the blockade of Leningrad and Belarus' liberation. Next year we will stand united as we celebrate the date every Soviet person holds sacred and dear – the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko believes these historical milestones are important for uniting Belarusians and Russians, for bolstering the ideological foundation of the Union State of Belarus and Russia.
