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Uladzimir Arlou: We Are European Nation

Uladzimir Arlou: We Are European Nation
PHOTO: RFL

Belarusians are able to meet the challenges of history.

In February 1990, when the idea of independent Belarus was in the air, it literally took Uladzimir Arlou an hour to write his famous essay “Independence Is...” Rereading it today, it is impossible to get rid of the feeling, that after 26 years (25 of which Belarus has been an independent country) the writer’s dream have not come true completely.

The EuroBelarus Information Service visited the writer and talked with him about the independence, national values and the fact, that the Belarusian style has become fashionable.

– We know a lot of nations that have disappeared. There are about three thousand nations in the world, and only about two hundred of them have been able to gain their own statehood. There are nations, outnumbering ours, like the Kurds, who do not have their own state.

I think that in the XXI century Vaclav Havel’s prophecy will come true. He said that Belarus was to become a part of Europe, as the configuration of united Europe will never gain its completion without democratic Belarus. He repeated that not once both in private conversations with Belarusians and at various conferences. And it will happen, because we are Europeans, not only geographically, but also historically, culturally, mentally.

– So many times in the history the Belarusians tried to return to their roots – but in vain. Why is it so, and under what conditions is that possible?

– I am not a futurologist, but I think that it will happen, if Belarus has a creative minority, capable of solving all the state’s problems. I have a diploma in history and I’m a supporter of the English historian and philosopher Arnold Toynbee, who considers the movement of the human civilization as an endless dialogue of the Logos - God with the nations. This supreme power challenges the nations, and if they are not met, the nation may leave the historical arena. History, especially the one of XX - XXI centuries, shows that we, Belarusians, being at its most dangerous point, after all are able to meet the challenge. Therefore, I am looking into the future with optimism.

– What do you think of today's fashion for all Belarusian – is it just a trend or something serious?

– Of course, this is the manifestation of the mass tendency of returning to our national values. For some people it's just fashion. But it is based on sometimes not conscious desire to return to the roots, especially now, in the new geopolitical situation, confronting with the Russian World threat. I think that this trend will gain momentum, and it is already strong enough for the state not to interfere with it, but sometimes to help it.

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