MINSK, 31 October (BelTA) - European diplomats held an event at the Kuropaty tract on 30 October, BelTA has learned.
In the morning of 30 October, diplomats from the UK, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, France, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands laid flowers at the memorial in the Kuropaty tract near the Minsk Ring Road. None of the participants could explain to Belarusian journalists whose memory the EU representatives were honoring in this way. They also did not answer the question of why they do not participate in the official events dedicated to the celebration of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Another question that also remained unanswered was why, while in the country and presumably respecting its history and people, they do not join everyone else in laying flowers at Victory Square in Minsk on 9 May.
“It seems somewhat strange when diplomats come to the Kuropaty tract early in the morning, lay flowers and wreaths, and then immediately disappear. This is likely not grief, but a mandatory checkbox in their report. This is especially true when the participants themselves cannot find the words to explain why they came there and whom exactly they are honoring. Such actions look cynical against the backdrop of monuments to Soviet soldiers, who saved Europe from fascism, being dismantled in their own EU countries. If the diplomats truly wish to express respect for the Belarusian people, its traditions and history, they can do so by visiting the places where those who brought Europe freedom from the brown plague are laid to rest. Everything else is not about remembrance, but a political performance disguised as morality,” Nikita Belenchenko, Director of the Center for International Studies at the Faculty of International Relations of Belarusian State University, told BelTA.
He emphasized that Belarus is a sovereign state with its own history and its own heroes. “It is unacceptable for anyone to claim the right to teach us how to remember, whom to honor, and where to lay flowers. Remembrance does not need to be coordinated with external political forces, especially those of a European orientation. We must not allow memory to be turned into a tool for political pressure,” the expert said.
According to him, the fact that European diplomats in Belarus prefer to celebrate Victory Day not on 9 May with the entire country, but separately on 8 May, is further proof that they are turning memory into an instrument of political pressure.
“If they truly want respect and dialogue, they should start not with performances, but with sincere respect for our history and for the feat of the Belarusian people. The memory of the heroes who saved the world from fascism is not a political category, but the foundation of a moral choice. To ignore these dates, which are sacred to Belarusians, while simultaneously holding an event in Kuropaty, is to demonstrate double standards and an attempt to use history selectively, depending on the current political climate,” Nikita Belenchenko concluded.
Photos by Andrei Sinyavsky
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