The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, organized the celebration of Freedom Day for the fourth time. On March 27, a ceremonial event was held at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.
Head of the United Transitional Cabinet Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski addressed Belarusians.
Bartoszewski noted that Poland had waited 123 years to regain its independence—and succeeded.
“Yes, almost six years have already passed, but there is light. You have representatives who act very skillfully and, most importantly, unite the Belarusian diaspora,” the cabinet’s press service quoted him as saying.
The deputy minister stressed that a free Europe is not possible without a free Belarus and assured that Poland would oppose “Russia’s neo-imperial ambitions.”
“You now have a great privilege because you are not alone—you have friends in Poland. You also have the United Transitional Cabinet, which shows you the direction. And in this direction you must all move, not scatter in different directions, even if you do not agree on everything. But you must move in this direction, and later, when you are free, you will hold elections and argue, but you will do so in your own country,” he said.
Tsikhanouskaya in her speech recalled that Belarusian independence has never come easily and is once again under threat.
“The enemy is the same. But we have learned our lesson, and we will not give up our independence to anyone,” she said.
The democratic leader noted that even inside the country Belarusians find ways to mark the day: “Speaking Belarusian has become a form of protest.”
She also thanked the Polish side: “We feel particular support from Poland and the Polish people. The Polish nation itself went through a difficult path to freedom. You understand us like no one else and stand beside us.”
A special moment of the ceremony was the greeting of released political prisoners present in the hall—Maria Kalesnikava, Marina Zolotova, Katsiaryna Andreyeva, and Iryna Slavnikava. Tsikhanouskaya called for continued efforts to secure the release of those still behind bars, including Andrzej Poczobut, who was arrested exactly five years ago.
On the same day, an awards ceremony of the United Transitional Cabinet honoring outstanding Belarusians took place.
On March 28 at 16:00, a Freedom Day march will be held in Warsaw.
