Milinkievich: Belarussians have to fight for independence :: Charter'97 :: News

Belarussians must fight for their independence, honour and homeland, presidential candidate of the Belarussian opposition Aleksandr Milinkevich told the Polish Sejm on Wednesday. Presidential elections in Belarus will be held on March 19.

We have the example of a consistent struggle, Milinkevich said referring to Poland and stressed that Belarussians will never give up their dreams and ideas of an independent state.

Milinkevich assured the Sejm that when Belarus becomes a democratic and free country the Polish minority in that country will be supported by democratic authorities. According to Milinkevich, the Polish national minority in Belarus and the Belarussian one in Poland can be "a bridge linking the two countries."

According to the presidential candidate, the opposition can force the authorities to hold democratic elections. "We do not want a revolution. We want presidential elections to be clear and compatible with the constitution, Milinkevich said.

Milinkevich stressed the democratic opposition in Belarus needed access to information and solidarity with persecuted people.

The recent ten years in the history of Belarus are marked by the return to the Stalinist-time repressions, Milinkevich said.

He also stressed that there was not even one university in Belarus where the language of instruction was Belarussian. The number of high school classes with Belarussian as the language of instruction has been going down, Milinkevich said.