[ad_1]
“Loud and quiet”
Nikolai Logvin, President of Klaipeda’s Krynica Community and Honorary Consul of Belarus in the port city, speaks cautiously about recent events in Belarus, when force was used against unarmed protesters demanding transparent presidential elections.
“Everything that was happening was planned. Naturally, the losers of the elections are unhappy, so the protests have started. These things are happening in almost every country lately. The second day will be noisy and everything will calm down. fair elections? “Some think the election was fair, some think it was unfair. Independent observers are being invited to do so. But it is clear what the majority supported in this case, “Logvin said.
When asked what was at least morally supported in this election by the Honorary Consul of Belarus in Klaipeda, he did not want to answer this question.
A similar attitude, not revealing their position, is followed by the majority of Belarusians living in the port city, some 300 of them belong to the ethnic community, mostly elderly.
“According to our community regulations, we only deal with cultural issues. Not politics. We try to distance ourselves from politics and not become politicized in public, because we would just get angry. And we would very much like to avoid that,” Logvin said.
Attitude: N. Logvinas, leader of the Belarusian communities in Klaipėda, says that only those who are unhappy with the election results are currently protesting in their historic homeland. / Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis
According to 2011 According to census data, 2,750 (1.7%) Belarusians lived in Klaipeda. However, several people have recently come from Belarus to work here, some of whom have raised families with locals.
Officially, more than 21 thousand people have to live in Lithuania. Belarusian citizens.
Hopes are a democratic country
Another Klaipėda resident of Belarusian origin, the director of the Lithuanian Higher Maritime School, the former politician and diplomat Vaclavas Stankevičius, was one of those people who did a lot to make Lithuania safe today.
He was born in historic Krew, western Belarus, where in the 14th century. The first union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland was signed in
Western Belarus came under Soviet influence only in 1939. in the fall of 1917, and its eastern part became Soviet after 1917.
Title: V. Stankevičius, a former Klaipeda politician and diplomat of Klaipeda origin, does not believe in fair elections in Belarus and is very concerned that political changes will not require human sacrifice there. / Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis
Western Belarus is very different from Eastern Belarus even now. According to V. Stankevičius, anyone who is at least somewhat interested in history will understand the difference.
“Of course, I care about what is happening in Belarus, because I was born there. I would very much like the country that once formed a state with Lithuania to be democratic. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Our political systems are different. I would be pleased. a lot. if Belarus belongs to a democratic world “, V. Stankevičius expressed his opinion.
Why did this situation occur in Belarus after the collapse of the Soviet Union?
According to V. Stankevičius, Russia had a much greater influence in Belarus than in the Baltic states, so the regime prevailed there.
“I do not believe that the presidential elections in Belarus (according to official figures, 80% of the votes of Lukashenko – AD) have been fair, but I believe that the time will come and the change will take place in Belarus. I only wish that the change did not be bloody, because we see that the situation is “on the brink”, – lamented V. Stankevičius.
Not interested in politics at all?
Another Belarusian-born Mikhail, who decided to request the mandate of a member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, was asked about the events in Belarus where the government uses violence against unarmed protesters, trying to avoid a direct response.
“How do I evaluate the events in Minsk? Bad, I feel the taste of Kiev. I think there are many external forces that have shaken those youth specifically. , people rebelled, but it was someone’s interest, because their interests are generally limited to where to buy cheaper potatoes, ”said a Klaipeda resident.
However, Mikhail admitted that he was hurt by what was happening in Belarus, but that it was no longer his country.
“I was born there, but I live in Lithuania. Do I support Lukashenko? I don’t know, I’m not interested. All I know is that he fed Steven Seagala (a US action film actor – AD) and that Gérard Depardieu (French actor – AD) My relatives who live there do not support the regime because they are bored with them, they see everything from the inside and I am not interested in foreign policy, and I am not interested in the local, I do not even know who he is the Speaker of the Seimas. “Stand up,” joked the newly baked Belarusian politician.
People are still afraid
Vytautas Čepas, an activist from the Klaipėda movement and the first president of the Klaipėda Council, said that the attitude of the majority of Belarusians in the port city to the events in Belarus did not surprise him.
Almost all of them positioned themselves alongside the Russians before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Vytautas Čepas / Editorial file photo.
“At the beginning of the Sąjūdis and then when I was the Chairman of the Klaipėda City Council, nobody knew anything about the Belarusians in Klaipėda. At least in Lithuanian consciousness, they were the Russians themselves. Their national community was probably the last of them. Only then they did not identify with the Belarusian nation, “said V. Čepas.
According to the interlocutor, only a much later part of the Klaipėda intelligentsia began to associate with the Belarusians. In a national sense, they were said to be the weakest link.
“I think they are still quite passive now. It takes a good effort to fall asleep for 30 years. No matter how unfortunate, I think the honorary consul is right, he will be upset and stop. And he will have new elections again for five years.” . “They can be living without fear. They cannot live without fear. This is the normal state of a Soviet man. If you are not afraid of anything, you are a corpse.” – said V. Čepas.
Waiting for a miracle
The photographed records of the Vilnius electoral college, submitted by independent observers, indicate that 318 voters voted for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and 157 for Lukashenko.
On Monday it was announced that President Lukashenko had voted more than 80 percent in the elections. vote and was re-elected for another term.
And the opposition candidate for the presidency of Belarus, Tikhanovskaya, raised just 10 percent. votes, but she expressed disapproval of the official election results and believes they were manipulated.
It takes a good effort to fall asleep for 30 years.
“I feel like I have won the elections,” Tichanovskaya told a press conference at his electoral headquarters.
However, he said he would not participate in the protests because he believed that his presence on the street “would only intensify the conflict.”
He appealed to his supporters to continue the peaceful protest and noted that he was calling on Mr. Lukashenko and the authorities to enter into a dialogue to prevent violence.
“It is said that if you want to be realistic, you have to believe in miracles. Maybe a miracle will happen in Belarus,” said Cep, who is monitoring the situation in this country.
[ad_2]
