Today is Independence Day of Belarus

20 years ago the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus was adopted.

The Supreme Council of the Belarusian Soviet Republic (BSSR) adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty on July 27, 1990. This important document became the first official step towards the independence of Belarus.

The Declaration of State Sovereignty of Belarus proclaimed the “full state sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus as supremacy and independence of the state power of the republic within the borders of the country, validity of its law, and independence of the republic in foreign relations.”

This day was a beginning of the new history of our country. July 27 was proclaimed the Independence Day of Belarus.

On August 25, 1991, the Declaration of State Sovereignty received the status of a constitutional law, on which grounds the Constitution of 1978 was amended. The new Constitution of the Republic of Belarus was adopted on March 15, 1994.

The official authorities cancelled the holiday after the referendum in 1996 that gave unlimited power to Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The Independence Day is now marked on July 3, the day of liberation of Minsk from the Nazi invaders. The democratic community continues to celebrate the Day of Independence on July 27.

“For me it is one of the most important events in our country’s acquiring independence de jure, in restoring what was declared in 1918 by the Belarusian People’s Republic.

Then, in 1990, we used the fact that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus offered to adopt the declaration. They offered a declaration of 37 articles, which was very vague, real independence was not mentioned there, and total dependence on Russia was meant. We created a commission from two groups, which transformed the declaration proposed by the Central Committee. We framed the text and put it in a normal form, wrote 12 articles and announced the Republic of Belarus an independent state,” said the first leader of independent Belarus Stanislau Shushkevich, who was the first deputy chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus then, and took part in drafting the text of the Declaration.

The website charter97.org congratulates the people of Belarus on the Independence Day.