Veteran opposition leader urges Belarusians to rally around their language

June 30, Pozirk. The Belarusian nation’s survival depends on whether it will manage to save the Belarusian language and expand its use, said Zianon Paźniak, a longtime rival of Alaksandar Łukašenka living in exile since 1996.

Paźniak, who now heads the Volnaja Biełaruś movement, made this statement at a conference in Warsaw yesterday.

“We are in a unique situation, with Russia, our nation’s mortal enemy, right next door,” he said. “Losing the Belarusian language while living next to imperial Russia will mean only Russification.” Belarusians will not be able to build a national identity in Russian because their language is their identity, he stressed. 

The politician added that Belarusian national revival will be possible only as a joint effort to set up effective public institutions.

Paźniak noted a weak sense of national identity among the new wave of emigration from Belarus that followed the 2020 political crisis. Moreover, he said, some of those exiled activists “indulge in pro-Russian rhetoric.”

An estimated 500,000 people have left the country since 2020, fearing political reprisals and for economic reasons.

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