{"id":201229,"date":"2026-08-25T14:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T11:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/201229\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T15:01:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T12:01:50","slug":"cichanouskaja-plays-up-value-of-independence-in-anniversary-message","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/201229\/","title":{"rendered":"Cichano\u016dskaja plays up value of independence in anniversary message"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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August 25, <\/strong>Pozirk<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Generations of Belarusians dreamed of having their own state and fought and went to prison and into exile for its sake, but that \u201conly our generation is fortunate enough to live in its our own independent country,\u201d Belarusian pro-democracy leader Sviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja says in a message on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the adoption of Belarus\u2019 Declaration of Sovereignty as a constitutional law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cichano\u016dskaja describes August 25, 1991 as \u201cIndependence Restoration Day\u201d for Belarus. Belarusians have long treated independence as something natural and permanent, but now they have understood \u201chow fragile it is,\u201d she says, pointing to Ukraine, which \u201cis paying a terrible price for the right to remain independent,\u201d and to Belarus, where Russia is \u201cpenetrating ever deeper into the military, economic, information and cultural spheres.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Cichano\u016dskaja, it is now an open question whether Belarus will be able to preserve real independence as the right to decide its own fate, choose its leaders, speak its language, teach children its own history and choose friends and alliances and not to have fateful decisions made in Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cichano\u016dskaja warns that without independence \u201cthere will be no freedom, no democracy, and no future.\u201d The value of independence, she says, can unite all Belarusians, including those who did and did not take to the streets in 2020, those living in Belarus and in exile and even those holding opposite political views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cichano\u016dskaja says that many government officials, diplomats and military officers \u201cvalue Belarus and understand the danger of losing independence, and do not want the country dragged into war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this reason, Cichano\u016dskaja argues, a national dialogue is needed to put an end to repression, find a peaceful way out of the crisis and preserve Belarus as an independent state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She stresses that the fate of Belarus depends to a large extent on developments in Ukraine, saying that \u201ca strong Ukraine and a weak Russia will give us a chance to pull Belarus out of Russia\u2019s orbit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cichano\u016dskaja says that Belarus has many friends and allies willing to help, but \u201cno one will win freedom for us, this is our own responsibility and task.\u201d According to her, history shows that Belarusians can find a way forward even in the most difficult moments, and that August 25, 1991 was one of those defining days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivonka Survi\u0142a, the Canada-based chairwoman of the exiled Rada of the Belarusian People’s Republic (BNR), has also issued a statement to mark the anniversary, urging the nation to “maintain unity for the sake of the country’s future.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 25, 1991, the Declaration of Sovereignty, adopted the previous year, was granted the force of law, making Belarus independent for the first time since the BNR, the short-lived state proclaimed in 1918.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

August 25, Pozirk. Generations of Belarusians dreamed of having their own state and fought and went to prison and into exile for its sake, but that \u201conly our generation is fortunate enough to live in its our own independent country,\u201d Belarusian pro-democracy leader Sviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja says in a message on the occasion of the 35th […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":180088,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-201229","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCichano\u016dskaja plays up value of independence in anniversary message | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"August 25, Pozirk. Generations of Belarusians dreamed of having their own state and fought and went to prison and into exile for its sake, but that \u201conly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/201229\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cichano\u016dskaja plays up value of independence in anniversary message | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"August 25, Pozirk. 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