Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko urges to step up efforts to reinvigorate Chernobyl-affected regions

BRAGIN, 26 April (BelTA) – We should do our best to restore and reinvigorate Chernobyl-affected regions, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a requiem meeting on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, BelTA has learned.

The head of state stressed that in the next five years, withstanding all attacks and pressure that Belarus is facing, it is essential to work out a program for the development of Chernobyl-affected areas, it is essential to restore these lands.

“Our generation and the generation of our children understand what the Great Patriotic War is, although we did not fight. We know it very well. Our children know. Are you sure that the children of our children will be as concerned about those events as we are? The events of the previous year showed that not all of them will,” the head of state said. “Therefore, if we do not handle the Chernobyl issue within five years, if we do not determine what to do in the future, especially within those five years on those lands, no one will. Pain will go away. Chernobyl will disappear from our lives. It's hard to say if this pain will stay in the lives, hearts and fates of our children and grandchildren. Therefore, we must do everything to restore and reinvigorate those territories.”

For this purpose, the president visits Chernobyl-affected regions and familiarizes himself with the situation there when he is flying above these territories in a helicopter. “When we are flying above these territories it is painful to realize that they could have been abandoned forever, that they could have disappeared,” the head of state said.

The president thanked those who decided to stay in Chernobyl-affected areas. “Please accept the warmest wishes and gratitude for your courage on behalf of the Belarusian people. You do not realize what a great thing you are doing by living, restoring these lands and raising your children here. We bow low to you. And thank you very much. We will do our best to restore these territories,” the Belarusian leader said.

He also urged to honor the memory of Chernobyl clean-up workers. “Do not forget them. They are heroes who knew that they would die in the peaceful time. Can you image what it means to die in the peaceful time? To pay for somebody's mistakes with your hearts and lives (that tragedy was not ours). They did their job and died. They deserve to be remembered. Our children should know it, they should know the value of life.”

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