Opinions & Interviews
Lukashenko: Belarusians urge nations to build bridges, not walls
VITEBSK, 16 July (BelTA) – From the stage of the Slavianski Bazaar festival, Belarusians urge states and nations to build bridges, not walls, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the opening ceremony of the 30th edition of the International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk on 15 July, BelTA has learned.
According to the president, the festival has brought together all Slavic peoples, peoples of the former Soviet Union republics, participants and visitors from more and more countries, which could not but irritate those who do not want the unity of these countries. “Our festival annoys them, and it is not about dictatorship or about our country being different from other states. New methods of dividing peoples have appeared. They are trying to divide us, therefore we must take every effort to preserve this great festival, which has been bringing joy to people for three decades. Addressing those who do not want people from other states to see Belarus with their own eyes and not through the prism of deceitful media and Telegram channels, we must say: come to us, the door is open. Those misled and deranged should look at us,” the Belarusian leader added.
Aleksandr Lukashenko went on saying that against all the odds three brotherly East Slavic languages are spoken on the stage of the Summer Amphitheater in Vitebsk: Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian, as well as the language of international communication. “Please, speak any language, we do not shut anyone up. But the building blocks of our communication are three beautiful languages of courageous Slavic peoples. As you can see, there have been attempts to rock the boat in our countries in order to rip, tear us apart. They are trying to tear off our dear Ukraine away from this unity,” the head of state said. He emphasized that the participation of Ukrainian artists and a Ukrainian host in Slavianski Bazaar suggests that nothing will come out of these attempts. “We will be together like before. And these great languages have been spoken and will always be spoken, because they are part and parcel of these peoples,” he stressed.
“We, the people who are in attendance, first of all Belarusians, keep using this cultural platform to call on states and nations to build bridges, not walls, to preserve Slavic brotherhood, strengthen friendship with all states of the world,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The president noted that special awards and prizes are only a small part of the recognition of the contribution that people of art make to strengthen ties between fraternal peoples. Speaking about the people who shaped the history of the festival, the head of state named playwright Aleksei Dudarev, People’s Writer of Belarus Ivan Shamyakin, People’s Artists of Russia and Belarus Alexei Petrenko and Vladimir Gostyukhin, conductor Mikhail Finberg, People’s Artist of the Soviet Union Mikhail Savitsky, composer Alexandra Pakhmutova, poet Nikolai Dobronravov and, of course, the first director of the festival, Rodion Bass.
“These people - and this is their distinctive feature - never tried to adapt to the political or other situations, they did not resort to publicity stunts, but did a lot to promote art, peace and friendship,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
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