MINSK, 7 May (BelTA) – Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko went to the Military Graveyard in Minsk in order to honor memory of those, who fell during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, in anticipation of the celebration of Victory Day, BelTA has learned.
Roman Golovchenko said: “We would like to forget the suffering, victims, and horrors of that war forever. We would like to turn this page once and for all but unfortunately we have to refer to those lessons more and more often. We remember how at the dawn of our independence in 1994 Western countries (USA, UK) guaranteed the protection of Belarus' sovereignty, the lack of pressure and economic coercion. The ink on this document barely had time to dry when we faced the pressure they had promised we won't. Some time has passed since 1994 but assaults on our country continued during the entire period.”
In his words, not everybody likes the freedom, independence, and sovereignty of Belarus. “They do not like that we make decisions in our own land on our own, that we act bearing in mind interests of development of our country, our nation. And the longer we advance on the way towards building independence and sovereignty, the more convoluted and more rigorous these methods become,” the prime minister stressed.
He added: “As we stand in this sacred place and recall what our ancestors, grandfathers and great grandfathers had to go through, we certainly respond to those, who try to pressure us. Belarus will never fall to its knees. Just like we didn't fall in the face of the most dreadful war of the 20th century and the entire world history.”
Roman Golovchenko pointed out that many pages of history, which significance had been downplayed, will be revealed. “Archives are being opened now. We learn new information about how various people acted during that difficult time. We talked more about heroism in the past. Indeed, there was a lot of heroism. But now we also have to talk about treachery and treason. We need to know all of it and evaluate it in order to never repeat it,” he stated.
The prime minister also mentioned the role of public organizations and associations that focus on preserving the historical legacy and historical memory about the war. They do their best so that no hero would be left unnamed. “This example can be a very good foundation for the patriotic upbringing of our youth. We cannot forget the past because a nation that forgets the past has no future,” the official summed it up.
