2020 gave Belarusians colossal impetus toward prosperity, sense of national identity- Cichanoŭskaja

August 8, Pozirk. Opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja, in an interview with Pozirk just days before the fifth anniversary of the disputed 2020 presidential election and the subsequent protests, emphasized the importance of the 2020 uprising in Belarus for the nation’s development.

“As a nation, we received a colossal impetus toward prosperity and the formation of a national identity. If life had remained as calm and undisturbed as it was before 2020, people might never have thought of Belarus as their Motherland — something they must protect and change themselves. We would have continued living in ignorance.”

In 2020, Belarusians suddenly realized that silence and passive acceptance of injustice came at a high cost.

“It taught us a lot. It helped us understand ourselves as Belarusians — as part of a nation responsible for the future of our country.”

She acknowledged that Belarusians have not yet achieved the goals they set in 2020 — ending repression, freeing political prisoners and holding free and fair elections.

“But I believe we are much closer to achieving them now than we were in 2020.”

“Now we are back on our feet. We have gained recognition from democratic countries thanks to the moral sovereignty we, Belarusians, have regained and secured. That’s a big deal. If the democratic forces had not been working all these years, especially after the start of the war [Russia’s invasion of Ukraine], the world would have placed us in the same basket as Russia — and Belarusians would be treated the same way [as Russians].”

Read the full interview in Belarusian and Russian on our website.