{"id":512173,"date":"2026-01-25T17:34:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T14:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=512173"},"modified":"2026-01-25T19:43:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T16:43:05","slug":"zelenskyy-lukashenka-s-spitz-has-more-rights-than-the-belarusian-people-but-there-will-still-be-a-chance-to-change-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/zelenskyy-lukashenka-s-spitz-has-more-rights-than-the-belarusian-people-but-there-will-still-be-a-chance-to-change-this","title":{"rendered":"Zelenskyy: Lukashenka\u2019s Spitz Has More Rights Than the Belarusian People, but There Will Still Be a Chance to Change This"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/b>, speaking at a memorial service at Vilnius Cathedral marking the anniversary of the 1863\u20131864 uprising, paid special attention to the situation in Belarus, saying that Europe and the world should have supported the Belarusian people in 2020. He also thanked Belarusian volunteers and expressed confidence that Belarus would be part of the European family.<\/p>\n

Speaking in the presence of Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda<\/b>, Polish President Karol Nawrocki<\/b>, and Head of the United Transitional Cabinet Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya<\/b>, Zelenskyy said the 1863 uprising confirmed the shared destinies of Ukrainians, Poles, Lithuanians and Belarusians. According to him, the independence of these nations is possible only through joint efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cGitanas, Karol \u2014 Mr Presidents, Diana, Marta, Olena \u2014 our dear first ladies, Sviatlana \u2014 and the entire team of free Belarus, dear friends \u2014 peoples who are so close to one another, and whose closeness is of such great importance for all of our Europe. Today we have all gathered here, in Vilnius, to honor the memory and thank for the courage of the participants of the 1863 Uprising. An uprising that confirmed: our calling, our destiny, is to be together. And our success \u2014 of Ukrainians, Poles, Lithuanians, Belarusians \u2014 can only be a shared success. Exactly to the extent that we are together, we can be independent,\u201d<\/i> the Ukrainian leader said.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian president noted that the values fought for by Kastus Kalinouski<\/b> remain relevant for Belarusian society.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelarus is still forced to exist as a Russian general-governorate. Now, so many years after Kastus Kalinouski, everything he fought for remains relevant for Belarus, although for Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland it has already worked. And this is relevant not simply because he was right, but because Belarusians still have to win genuine independence and genuine protection of life. For now, unfortunately, Lukashenka\u2019s white spitz has been left with more rights than the people of Belarus,\u201d<\/i> he said.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy stressed that Belarus had a chance to change the situation in 2020, but international support at the time was insufficient, and Minsk\u2019s dependence on Moscow has only deepened.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a chance in 2020 to change this \u2014 and I am sure there will still be such an opportunity. But then the support for Belarus was simply insufficient, and today we all feel how it has become harder, more expensive and much more dangerous for everyone \u2014 because of Belarus\u2019s dependence on Moscow. A dependence that is not decreasing,\u201d<\/i> he said.<\/p>\n

He also stated that Russia is using Belarusian territory in its war against Ukraine \u2014 including for launching attack drones, providing communications for strikes, and exerting military pressure on Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cOperators of Russian \u2018Shahed\u2019 strike drones also operate against Ukraine from the territory of Belarus. Communications for strikes are supported from Belarus. Russia is using Belarus as a testing ground for blackmailing Europe and the world with \u2018Oreshniks\u2019. Belarusian industry is working for Russia\u2019s war, and trade links help Putin buy components that are necessary to build threats to everyone in Europe.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why it is critically important for Europe not to lose a single one of the peoples who live in freedom. That is why it is critically important for Europe not to lose time. That is why all of us in Europe must work every day for a strong Europe,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

According to him, today\u2019s threat emanating from Belarusian territory might not have arisen, and the region\u2019s history could have developed differently, if the Belarusian protests of 2020 had received sufficient support from Europe and the international community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe uprising of Belarusians should have won in 2020 \u2014 so that today there would be no threat from there. Europe and the world should have supported the people who rose up \u2014 and history would have been different, safer. The same can be said about the 1863 uprising and other movements of peoples that were not supported by neighboring states. In the end, history punishes those who remain on the sidelines,\u201d<\/i> he said.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy drew a parallel between the events of 2020 and the January Uprising of 1863, emphasizing that the fate of many national liberation movements was determined not only by the courage of the peoples themselves, but also by the readiness of neighboring states to come to their aid.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo a large extent, the wars of the twentieth century were the result of the indifference of the powerful of this world in the nineteenth century. Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine and other Russian wars \u2014 against Moldova, against Chechnya, against Georgia \u2014 all of this is the consequence of indifference \u2014 to the truth of our peoples, to the truth that people feel, and of the indifference shown by key states of the world at the end of the Soviet era in the 1990s and at the beginning of the twenty-first century, when there was a \u2018reset\u2019 with Russia, which in reality became an \u2018overload\u2019 for all of us,\u201d<\/i> the Ukrainian leader said.<\/p>\n

He noted that support for Ukraine from Poland, Lithuania, the Baltic states, Northern and Central Europe, as well as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the countries of Southern Europe, Romania and Moldova is unprecedented and aimed not only at defending Ukraine but also at ensuring the security of all of Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd our challenge is not for unity to be effective by one hundred percent \u2014 not by half, not for a few months a year, not until the next elections in this or that country \u2014 but by one hundred percent effective. Not as much as we can spare. Not as much as we can \u2014 but as much as is needed. So that threats to Europe and to each of our peoples simply no longer exist,\u201d<\/i> he urged.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian president addressed the Belarusian people, calling them a European nation and stressing that Belarus has a future in a united, free and peaceful Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I want to say separately to the people of Belarus: you are a European people who will be together with all our peoples in a united, free Europe. In a peaceful Europe. In a strong Europe. And you cannot be erased. All of us cannot be erased,\u201d<\/i> he stressed.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy thanked Belarusian volunteers fighting on Ukraine\u2019s side, noting their contribution both to Ukraine\u2019s defense and to a historic opportunity for Belarus itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerations before us fought so that we would exist. Our people are fighting so that our children and grandchildren, and their children and grandchildren, will exist and live. Live in peace. So that what matters is not one person somewhere there on a throne in Russia, but each of our peoples, each of our people, because this is a European rule: people matter, nations matter, cultures matter. Russia does not matter, because those who are against peoples have always lost historically,\u201d<\/i> he concluded.<\/p>\n