Event to mark the Day of National Memory of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War

The sovereignty of the Belarusian state is an undeniable factor, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he spoke at an event held in Brest Fortress on 22 June to mark the Day of National Memory of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War.

The president addressed words of special gratitude to the veterans for having withstood with honor the hardships of the military and post-war period. “Those who left us are with us today. They are looking at us from there [the sky] and assess our actions. We tell them that their heroic past has become a symbol of our independence. Their way of life is an example in which we find the strength to overcome the challenges not only of our time but also of the times to come,” he said. Difficulties of the modern generation will not be equal to the tests that have fallen on the veterans, the head of state is convinced.

“We know for sure that their aspiration for freedom and justice, their devotion to the Motherland live in each of us. This is the heredity that makes the sovereignty of our state an undeniable factor. It is very consonant with today's times,” the Belarusian leader continued. He stressed that it is necessary to continue fighting for our independence, sovereignty against those who impose their ideas on us, who come here to destroy peace and everything created in the country. It is necessary to do it in the name of the memory of numerous victims of the war, of those who died in hundreds of burned Belarusian villages. “Everything that we have today, though we have created it with our own hands, belongs not only to us. It also belongs to them and to our children. Time has chosen us and we have to solve the problems we face,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“Today all of us, descendants of glorious warriors, embody everything that the defenders of the Fatherland fought for during the Great Patriotic War. We raise children, build our independent states, and most importantly - we are free people. We did not become what the fascists hoped for when they came here on 22 June,” he added.

Addressing the officers and soldiers who are now serving on this heroic land, the president noted that he himself served in those places and knows Brest well. “You are the heirs of the Victory today. You are standing at the line that was not given to the enemy while at least one soldier was alive. That is not required from us today, but we must be prepared for everything. Thanks to the defenders of the Brest Fortress, the day of 22 June was the beginning of the collapse of Nazi Germany. It is a great honor to continue the traditions of heroes, and a huge responsibility to protect the peace they defended at the cost of their lives,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“May your service be peaceful and safe. I always remember and I want you, if you have to fight, to stand to the death here, but not thousands of kilometers away, on other people's lands and territories. We have nothing to do there. I want you to remember this, too,” the head of state said.

“Numerous wars have left the deepest trace in the memory of our people. They have taught us the main thing, which is to cherish and appreciate peace and independence, without which we have no future. I often remind people about it. We have exhausted not only the resource of revolutions, but also the time we walked under the whip, poor and hungry. We, and only we, must build our state. We, and only we, must decide our own fate and that of our children. May every day be lived in the name of the memory of those who fought and died for the sake of our life, for the sake of our future, for the sake of today's clean, cozy, green, beautiful Belarus, a hardworking country, with smart and wise people. May God give us this wisdom forever, so that we could live with our own mind and on our land,” the president said.