Leszek Szerepka: Language can defend borders more efficiently than tanks

In a few hours the winner and other laureates of one of the most prestigious literary awards are to be announced.

Jerzy Giedroyc Award was founded by the Embassy of Poland in Belarus with a financial support of Idea Bank. This year the award is to be granted for the 4th time. According to writers and publishers, thanks to this award the number of books in Belarusian has considerably grown over the past years. Before the solemn awarding ceremony its sponsors and members of the award panel once again assured journalists and the public that the winner is selected objectively. The suspense still remains, Radio Svaboda informs.

Leszek Szerepka, Poland’s Ambassador to Belarus, noted that he is very glad that Jerzy Giedroyc Award becomes very prestigious and influential in Belarus. As said by him, the ideas of the political essayist which concern relations of Poland and its nearest neighbours in the East, have always been determining trends of Warsaw’s foreign policy. And the most important of them is a thesis of support of national revival and sovereignty, as well as the national language.

“A language could undoubtedly be called a serious instrument forming identity of the nation, a sense of pride in being a part of community, which uses this language. A language could often defend borders more efficiently than tanks. The Belarusian literature deserves to be interested in, and its abundance and variety to be used in full. And with great pleasure we note influence of the literary prize named after Jerzy Giedroyc on the growth of the number of publications in Belarusian.”

Ambassador Szerepka expressed confidence that the prize is to be received by the author of truly the best work.