“Dear Mr. Voivode Bohdan Paszkowski,
Dear Mr. Marshal Artur Kosicki,
Dear Mr. Mayor of Bialystok Tadeusz Truszkolarski,
Dear Polish and Belarusan friends!
I am glad to be here, at the Free Belarus Square grand launch in Białystok. Its name is certainly well-deserved. It has already made history thanks to everyone who has been rallying here since the 90s to support the struggle for a free Belarus.
And people still come here today in solidarity with our political prisoners, to honor the memory of the regime’s victims, the memory of those tortured to death in prison – Vitold Ashurak, Mikalai Klimovich, Ales Pushkin.
To all the regime’s hangmen responsible for the death of Ales and other heroes, I want to say one thing – you will be held to account!
I am grateful to the Mayor of Bialystok, Mr. Tadeusz Truskolarski, for his initiative to rename the square. This eloquent gesture manifests the solidarity of the Polish people with Belarusians and their struggle for democracy. Our Polish friends have also seen such a struggle in their history. We are grateful to them for their solidarity and support. And we believe that our struggle in Belarus will also end in victory.
I am sincerely grateful to our dear Belarusians of Podlasie for not forgetting about their brothers in Belarus even after moving to democratic Europe. I have no doubt that one day Belarusians on both sides of the border will live in a united, free, and powerful Europe. For this Europe our compatriots are sacrificing their lives today – both in Lukashenka's prisons and on the battlefields where Ukraine fights for its independence.
Today is July 14, Bastille Day, a national holiday in France. I wish us all that the prison walls, that Jacek Kaczmarski once sang about and Belarusians have been singing about since 2020, will collapse as soon as possible.
This square is one of the pieces of free Belarus scattered all around the world. I hope and believe Belarus itself will soon be free.
Thanks again to all those involved in this initiative, and to those who continue to come here to demonstrate the true will of the Belarusian people to the regime.
Long Live Belarus!”
