Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “May 9 is a day of remembrance. A day when we honor those who defeated Nazism in the Second World War and those who never returned home. There is no family in Belarus untouched by that war. We remember that sacrifice, and that is why it is especially painful to see the memory of this horrific war being used as a propaganda tool to justify a new one.
The meaning of this date is not military parades or displays of weapons in the streets. Our grandfathers and great-grandfathers wanted their children and grandchildren to live ordinary, peaceful lives — to go to school, fall in love, work, and build families of their own. They certainly did not fight for Belarusian land to become a platform for someone else’s aggression, for foreign troops to be stationed here, or for our country to be turned into a source of threat. Belarus has always been — and must remain — a country that neither threatens its neighbors nor allows itself to be used against others.
Today, Ukraine again is paying a terrible price for peace, for the right to live on its own land, speak its own language, and build its own future. We see how war takes lives, destroys homes, and tears families apart.
That is precisely why the memory of war should remind us to protect life, rather than teach children to wear military uniforms, glorify weapons, or normalize violence. Memory should teach responsibility. It should teach compassion, honesty, respect for human dignity, and respect for neighbors. It should teach a simple truth: war is a tragedy, and peace is something that must be built together.
Today, I bow my head before all the heroes, the fallen, and the victims of that war. And I deeply hope that the best way to honor their memory will be a Belarus where human life is the highest value”.
