“On 3 July 1944, Minsk was liberated from the occupation. Could our grandparents in the forty-fourth have imagined that in 77 years Belarus would again be under occupation – not by a foreign State, but by its own?
Of course, we need national holidays. But our ancestors fought to live in a strong and prosperous free country. What do we have now?
Around the wreckage, collapsing bridges, losing power, shrinking salaries, and prisons for all the holdouts. Layoffs, constant checks, pressure on civil servants, complacency towards a pandemic that the whole world is already successfully coping with, but not our country at the heart of Europe. And the occupiers, who beat up Belarusians, rewrite history and pervert national symbols – and at the same time hypocritically perform salutes in honor of the Independence Day.
So what do these people want to celebrate? What Independence Day can we celebrate when all this year is being traded on our sovereignty? And is it really possible to believe that fireworks and concerts could distract us from the crisis in the country?
The people of Belarus do not want war, do not want to threaten all around. The people of Belarus want freedom, peace and the rule of law. Respect, truth and safety on their streets. Therefore we continue to prepare and accumulate forces, register in the mobilization plan "Peramoga" and prepare the strike in "Workers Rukh". We all know that the day will come when Belarusians throughout the country will celebrate liberation from the present occupation. And those who hold power when they look at their fireworks today, let them know too”.
