Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko in favor of promoting Belarusian language

MINSK, 25 January (BelTA) – It is important to promote the Belarusian language so that all Belarusians know it well, because this language is what differs Belarusians from other nations, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a meeting with representatives of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus on 25 January, BelTA has learned.

“You know, because of our opposition lunatics, we started rejecting everything they support, including good things. The Belarusian language, our mother tongue. You should understand that the Belarusian language is something that distinguishes us from others. We should not cast it aside. Every Belarusian should know it. It just so happened that we speak Russian. But the Russian language does not distinguish us from others, including the Russians, while the Belarusian language does,” the head of state said.

“We know the Russian language better than the Belarusian one. It so happened. But the Belarusian language should catch up with the Russian language; our mother tongue should not be left behind,” the head of state said.

“We must not forget our language. We are not Belarusians if we fail to know the Belarusian language. Both Russian and Belarusian are our languages. We do not want to force the Belarusian language on anyone, but we will strive to encourage every Belarusian to be able to speak it. And there is nothing anti-Russian here,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“When we got into these murky waters in August 2020 we started fighting an all-out battle. But we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. This should never happen. Young people understand this well,” the president noted.

According to the head of state, he is not going to veer toward some kind of soft Belarusianization. “I have no plans to launch soft Belarusianization. This is complete nonsense, a made-up story,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The president emphasized that the language issue should not cause any uproar or outrage, as was the case in the 1990s when the nationalists came to power. “There was a lot of commotion, great cry and little wool,” he remarked.

Scientists and educators should have their say in this matter, the head of state added.

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