Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Advisor on Youth Policy and Students, Marharyta Vorykhava, gave an interview to Euroradio. In it, Ms. Vorykhava discusses how the Belarusian youth has changed over the past few years and highlights the effects of propaganda on society. Additionally, the advisor emphasizes the division that exists among youth in Belarus today.
Here are a few notable quotes from the interview:
📌 “There is a group of young people who were involved in the civil sector and who feel an atmosphere of fear in Belarus. But there is a different group – one that was not much involved in civil society organizations. And they tend to normalize the situation in Belarus. And this is fine – we all tend to adapt to the changing circumstances. We should accept and work with this”.
📌 “The regime tries to force people to participate in its events, conferences, parliament, and politics. However, these efforts don’t bring the desired result because people cannot truly grasp the regime’s fundamental idea. It is artificial and unnatural; it does not feel like an idea to rely on. The regime’s ideas stem from secrecy, oppression, and coercion. It wants everyone to feel fear”.
📌 “In Belarus, young people cannot share their agenda, make decisions, and receive feedback from the authorities. It’s always about doing everything the way the regime wants. This is not true participation in politics, this is just a window-dressing of participation”.
