The memory of war should remind people of the value of life, not accustom children to military uniforms or normalize violence, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said in her Victory Day address to Belarusians.
“May 9 is a day of remembrance. A day when we remember those who defeated Nazism in World War II and those who never returned home. There is no family in Belarus untouched by the war. We remember this sacrifice, and that is precisely why it is especially painful to see the memory of that terrible war being used as a propaganda tool to justify a new one.
The meaning of this date is not in parades and military equipment on the streets. Our grandfathers and great-grandfathers wanted their children and grandchildren to live ordinary, peaceful lives. To go to school, to love, to work, to build families. They certainly did not fight so that Belarusian land would become a platform for someone else’s aggression, so that foreign troops would stand here, and our country would become a source of threats. Belarus has always been and must remain a country that does not threaten its neighbors and does not allow itself to be used against others.
Today, next to us, Ukraine is once again paying a terrible price for peace — for the right to live on its own land, speak its own language, and build its own life. We see how war takes lives, destroys homes, and separates families.
And that is exactly why the memory of war should teach us to protect life, not to accustom children to military uniforms, glorify weapons, and normalize violence. Memory should teach responsibility. It should teach compassion, honesty, respect for people and for neighbors. It should teach one simple thing: war is a tragedy, and peace is something that must be built together.
Today I bow my head before all heroes, before the dead and the victims of that war. And I deeply wish that the best tribute to them would be a Belarus where human life is the highest value,” she said.
