MINSK, 12 April (BelTA) - Belarusians are nationalist in terms of love for their homeland, and we are also internationalists, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told the media during the national clean-up day on 12 April, BelTA has learned.
The head of state worked at the construction site of the National History Museum and the People's Unity Park during the national clean-up day. One of the questions addressed to Aleksandr Lukashenko was about history. The president was also asked whether Belarusians have enough sense of national pride.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said that he knows the history of the country very well, adding that young people sometimes lack knowledge about the historical past of Belarus. “They are glued to their gadgets. What are they interested in today? Short headlines of three words. If there is crude language, then it’s funnier, better,” the head of state said. “History is a serious thing. One needs to study it, draw comparisons. The new generation is interested less and less about it.”
The president is convinced that it should be shown to everyone that Belarusians are a nation with a thousand-year history. It is imperative to convey this message to the youth. The new National History Museum will reveal all the richness of the Belarusian history in a fascinating and accessible way.
When asked about the sense of national pride, the president emphasized that this pride should not turn into nationalism. “We are by and large nationalist in terms of love for our country. There is nothing bad about it. We are not nationalistic people, we are not fascists. We are nationalist in terms of love for our Motherland. But we are also internationalists. We have great respect for our kin nations: Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, and others,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
According to the president, the two issues that can lead to war are economy and nationalism. Extreme policies can bring war. “I often think about our brotherly Ukraine. What was at the heart of this conflict? It had nothing to do with Russia, Putin and so on. At the heart of it was the destruction of the economy. Remember the developments in Ukraine before the war? The country got divided into impoverished people and super-rich oligarchs,” Alexander Lukashenko stated. “They were fed nationalism and an extreme form of fascism. They burned, for example, people in Odessa for being of different ethnicity, as they believed.”
The president said that Belarusians are special people: “We are a mix of Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, and Jew blood. This is our Belarusianness. This is the special feature of our people. And we should understand it.”
According to the president, Belarusians should be very careful with nationalism yet they should have national pride. “We must see to it that we stay the course, and not go into extremes. So that we have a peaceful life, we plant trees and build museums for our children and grandchildren."
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