Freedom Day celebrated in Belarus today

The 91st anniversary of announcement of the Belarusian National Republic is marked on March 25.

This day isn’t celebrated officially in Belarus, but representatives of the democratic community mark it annually as the Freedom Day.

Solemn actions will be organized in this connection in Belarus and abroad.

A rally and a meeting are planned in Minsk today. Participants of the action are to gather at the building of the presidium of the National Academy of Sciences that is authorized by the Minsk city executive committee.

A route of the rally hasn’t been defined yet. The organizers planned to move from the Academy of Sciences to October square along Independence Avenue. But the city authorities didn’t permit this route and suggested walking to Banhalor square along Surganov Street.

At last it was decided that the route would be chosen by the participants of the meeting. “People who will come to the action are not subject to the organizers. They won’t obey the commands “right, left, rear, march”. We will ask people at the place of gathering about a format of the action,” BPF party deputy head Viktar Ivashkevich, one of the applicants for the rally, told journalists on March 19. Representatives of the opposition called on the law enforcement agencies not to organize provocations against participants of the peaceful demonstration.

Representatives of the European institutions said they were going to keep an eye on the events in Minsk on March 25 and expressed a hope the Belarusian authorities wouldn’t detain participants of the action.

The independence of the Belarusian National Republic (BNR) was announced in Minsk at night March 25, 1918. An idea of BNR creation was first expressed at the Belarusian National Council in 1917. After the Brest failure peace negotiations and attack of the German military forces, Bolsheviks left Minks. In this situation, figures of the Belarusian Central Military Council and the executive committee of the Belarusian National Council announced themselves interim authority until the founding council was called. On February 21, 1918, the Executive Committee of the Council formed the first BNR government – the People’s Secretariat headed by Yazep Varonka.

The BNR government made efforts to establish national institutions. A regulation on state status of the Belarusian language was adopted, Belarusian schools and gymnasiums, cultural societies and theatres were opened, publishing houses worked, Belarusian newspapers were printed; the government also was preparing opening of the national university in Minsk. A passport of BNR citizen, including a diplomatic passport, was issued. State symbols – white-red-white flag and Chase court-of-arms – were legitimized. Diplomatic missions of the BNR opened in a range of the European states.