At the invitation of the Chancellery of Polish President Karol Nawrocki, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya took part in a ceremony honoring the participants of the 1863–1864 uprising. The event took place today in Warsaw on the grounds of the Warsaw Citadel.
The ceremony was held with the participation of an honor guard of the Polish Army. During the commemorations, speeches were delivered by President Karol Nawrocki and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda. In their remarks, they emphasized that the struggle for freedom and independence was a common cause of four nations — Poles, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians. The Polish president also welcomed representatives of the Belarusian democratic forces in attendance, the Office of the Democratic Forces Leader reported.
Following the speeches, a ceremony of laying flowers and wreaths was held. On behalf of the Belarusian delegation, wreaths were laid by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet Pavel Latushka, Speaker of the Coordination Council Artsiom Brukhan, as well as a veteran of the Kastus Kalinouski Regiment with the call sign “Pchela.”
“Freedom is not given once and for all; it has to be defended again and again. The Kalinouski uprising reminds us that we have dignity, we have a voice, and we have the right to live freely. We honor the memory of the insurgents because this experience of resistance and solidarity is important for us today as well, when Belarus and Ukraine are once again fighting for freedom from the ‘Russian world,’” Tsikhanouskaya said.
In his speech, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stated that the freedom and independence of the peoples of the region are enduring values and mentioned the “free Belarusian people.”
In his remarks, he also touched on the current geopolitical situation, pointing to Russia as a force dividing the peoples of the region.
“We stand before times when the empire is striking back, and this is no longer Alexander I, not Alexander II, not Tsar Nicholas, not Joseph Stalin. This is Vladimir Putin,” he stressed. “This is a different Russia, but in its actions it is still the same Russia that kills people in Ukraine, that destabilizes the situation in our region, that still cannot imagine any other conduct of international relations than dividing peoples among themselves and fighting to ensure that we are subordinated in one way or another.”
“Today we want to say that we greatly respect our freedom, independence, and sovereignty and will never renounce them, because the participants of the January Uprising died for this. Empires fall, but freedom remains and always prevails,” the presidential chancellery quoted him as saying. “May God bless free and independent Poland, may God bless free Lithuania, may God bless free Ukraine and the free Belarusian people.”
