Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko highlights historic significance of 17 September

MINSK, 17 September (BelTA) - The date 17 September 1939 was truly a landmark event, a day when the Belarusian people were reunited and millions of Belarusians returned to their motherland, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the youth forum Youth. Belarus. Future, marking People’s Unity Day on 17 September, BelTA has learned.

The head of state said he was sincerely glad to see the forum’s participants and guests: young, vibrant and full of energy. “You are the main participants in our event and in the celebration. And it is with you that I would like to talk about a date that is of paramount importance in our history,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“We are celebrating Day of People’s Unity. The day of the reunification of the Belarusian people, the day when millions of Belarusians returned to their family, to their motherland. It was truly a landmark event. 17 September is a special holiday. First and foremost, it is special for you - young people who are active and engaged in the life of the country. And it is an opportunity to talk about the future, which is built on the lessons and experience of the past. To talk about your future,” he said. “There are no accidental people here. Most likely [here], these are people with certain ambitions, certain goals, who have already shown what they can do in this life.”

Returning to the events of 1921 that led to the division of Belarus, the president stressed that the eastern half of the country began building an entirely new life. All Soviet citizens were granted equal rights – for the first time in history. “And what about Western Belarusians? They remained strangers in their own land, farmhands of a well-known state, cut off from their motherland. But, importantly, they kept it in their hearts. Of course, these are our heroes –  heroes who gave a worthy response to the challenge posed by the landlord order,” the Belarusian leader stated.

print version

make home page

add to bookmarks