Prominent Belarusian diaspora activist dies in USA

July 25, Pozirk. Viačka (Viačasłaŭ) Stankievič, one of the oldest representatives of the Belarusian community in the United States has died aged 92, the Rada of the Belarusian National Republic (BNR) reported.

Stankievič lived in the US since 1949 after his family left Europe during the Second World War. After earning a master’s degree from the Newark College of Engineering he worked for ITT and Western Union.

From 1990 to 1998 Stankievič was in charge of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Belarus’ service, which established a Minsk office during his tenure.

Stankievič was a member of the BNR Rada and had served as its deputy chairman for a while. He was also a board member of the New-York based Belarusian Krečeŭski Foundation.

The BNR Rada was formed in 1918 shortly before Belarus briefly declared independence from Russia during World War I and is now based in Canada. It is considered Belarus’ oldest government in exile.