Picket in Belgium against ban on white-red-white flags

Local Belarusians held a picket in front of the Swedish consulate in Brussels yesterday.

Charter97.org learnt it from Zmitser Pimenau, the head of the Belarusian-European Association and member of the Council of the Belarusian People's Republic.

“The police of Brussels permitted the picket and we went to the Consulate of Sweden. We had Belarusian national white-red-white flags and a placard 'Democracy is not where people play hockey, but where freedom is respected' and a placard depicting the Swedish flags and crossed out green-red hockey sticks. Journalists and passers-by came closer and supported our protest. A building of the European Parliament is located nearby, so some politicians came and expressed their solidarity and support,” the activist noted.

He added the consulate staff took the picket sympathetically and came out to the protesters.

“They said the ban on flags was provoked by the International Ice Hockey Federation and the Swedish police demonstrated political ignorance. They said Sweden perceived the situation negatively and the authorities know the white-red-white flag is a historical one and can be used at sporting events. We were invited to consul Ms Lilliehöök, who said the words of support and noted the topic had not been forgotten in Sweden and was regularly raised in media,” Zmitser Pimenau said.