Belarusians say goodbye to 2020 and make one common wish. Today the whole world congratulates Belarussians because they are incredible
31 December 2020 | BYHelp-Mediagroup
Source: TUT.BY
23:34 – the time when Belarusians began saying goodbye to 2020
23.34 is the most popular article of the administrative code, according to which tens of thousands of Belarusians have been convicted for peaceful protesting and expressing their civil position. Many people have been sent to prison just before the New Year day. Many have not been able to leave the prison in time to celebrate the New Year with their families.
At 23:34 sharp with joyful shouts “Long live Belarus!” residents of many cities began saying good bye to the year 2020 and inviting the new year 2021. However, the celebration did not go according to the authorities’ plan.
In Minsk, for example, the authorities allocated several official sites and set up fences, metal detectors and cordons of law enforcement officers near them. The site of the official celebration turned out to be particularly sad.
But thousands of Belarusians started the celebration of the approaching New Year by listening to the New Year video message from Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in their courtyards and residential neighborhoods.
“This year gave us a lot of hope and inspiration,” Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya congratulated Belarusians
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya addressed Belarusians in the Belarusian language while Alexander Lukashenko spoke Russian.
In her speech Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said that Belarusians had united during the outgoing year 2020 to defend their choice together and to help each other in order to get their common home back. Home where everyone was loved including those who wanted change as well as those who still had doubts.
“In the new year we will live together in our home, which is free Belarus,” stressed Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
The whole world congratulates Belarusians. Diasporas from 42 countries recorded warm wishes and congratulations
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda wished Belarusians Happy New Year on his Twitter account using the Belarusian language. He noted that in the outgoing year the Belarusians “had been tested by both the scourge of Covid and bloody struggle for freedom and democracy.” He writes that “Lithuania and the whole EU” are side by side with Belarusians in their struggle.
The leaders of the Belarusian protests as well as the journalists who are currently behind bars have also addressed the Belarusian nation. Maria Kalesnikava urged people to be active, persistent and try to overcome their fears. She believes that Belarusians will be celebrating the next New Year’s Eve in a free country.
In his congratulatory speech Viktar Babaryka, one of the presidential candidates, described Belarusians as people seeking light and good and ready to fight for their happiness, future, and the right to “be called people”.
Many famous Belarusian and Russian bloggers, politicians, and artists, including Maxim Katz and Ilya Varlamov, admired the courage and resilience of the Belarusian people and wished them Happy New Year with hopes for achieving freedom.
Representatives of the Belarusian diasporas from 42 countries of the world recorded a video message with their congratulations and wishes.
Lukashenko spoke about the people in rich countries lining up for a slice of bread and named the only valuable thing Belarusians have – “a piece of land in the middle of Europe”
In his New Year’s speech, Alexander Lukashenko proposed to turn the page on the past, write a new chapter of independent Belarus together and make the next year a year of national unity.
Lukashenko called Belarus not only a nuclear state, but also a space power. He said that “people in uniform have warned our enemies that the defense of the state and public safety will be ensured decisively and without any hesitation!”
But the most important thing, according to Lukashenko, is the preservation of food security. “And at times when people in rich countries lined up in kilometer-long queues for a slice of bread, our peasants provided Belarusians with the necessary food,” the illegitimate president told Belarusians in his New Year’s speech.
For more information on the events of 31 December 2020, please visit Infocenter Free Belarus 2020:
