Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko: While some are building fences, Belarus has opened its door

VITEBSK, 16 July (BelTA) – The threads of the Slavianski Bazaar festival keep linking people around the world that has not been so divided for a long time, 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.

The head of state noted that performers, painters, artisans coming to the festival from various countries and continents always speak the same language - the language of friendship, art and creativity. “Therefore, the threads of the Slavianski Bazaar festival continue to bind people in the world that has not been so divided for a long time as it is now - and not only by the pandemic and hybrid wars,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The president noted that while some states are building fences separating people with barbed wire, Belarus has opened its door to friends.

Having a ticket to the festival, citizens of 74 countries can visit Belarus without a visa. “And the friends of Belarus have never needed an invitation,” he added. “We are always glad in our Belarusian way to welcome guests and we say it over and over again: come and see our country - we have something to be proud of and something to pleasantly surprise you,” the Belarusian leader said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the stage of the Summer Amphitheater in Vitebsk remembers the great performers like Vladimir Mulyavin, Lyudmila Zykina, Igor Luchenok, Edita Piekha, Michel Legrand and Andrei Petrov. It was here where a number of artists, including Taisia Povaliy, Ruslana, Petr Elfimov, Alena Lanskaya, Dimash rose to stardom.

“Every year participants of the junior song contest take their first steps here – these children will shape the future of our countries. After all, in the end, all this is needed to preserve the continuity of generations, to illuminate the path for the creative youth, to show the best examples, but at the same time to give space to new ideas and directions. And we believe that our youth will write many more bright pages in the history book of the festival, and will continue what we have begun. Let it be in a new format, even in a language we do not understand, but with the same great purpose - ‘through art to peace and mutual understanding’,” the president emphasized.

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