Ales Stankevich: We Created Belarusian Popular Army

The Oath of Freedom will be a logical continuation of the consolidation of Belarusian patriots.

This year is the 25th anniversary of the solemn oath of allegiance to Belarus, which Belarusian officers took. A public civil action was prepared by the Belarusian Association of the Military. The solemn event was timed to the Day of the Belarusian Military Glory, which is celebrated on the day of the victory of the troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Battle of Orsha. Back then, Kanstantsin Astrozhski defeated the army of Muscovites, which was three times bigger. The Belarusian National Congress launched an initiative to take the Oath of Freedom at 7 p.m. on September 8 in the Kastrychnitskaya Square in Minsk. The BNC Council offered the following text of the oath:

I… before God and Belarus:

Swear to fight for the freedom and independence of my country;

Swear to cherish Belarus in my heart, and defend it from any enemy wherever they might come from;

Swear to be faithful to Belarus and never to betray my friends, who are struggling for the free Homeland.

Long Live Belarus!

The website charter97.org asked the direct participant of those events, retired Major of the Belarusian army Ales Stankevich what the main goal of that action was, what the Belarusian officers felt while taking that oath, and why it is so important for the Belarusian patriots to take the Oath of Freedom.

— Young soldiers at that time had already taken an oath, the text of which was approved by the Supreme Council, and the commanders remained under the oath of the USSR. This was very dangerous, since in the event of a military conflict, they were not even obliged to fight for Belarus. The Belarusian Association of the Military and the Belarusian Popular Front starting raising this issue in the society.

On September 8, on the Day of Belarusian Military Glory, the anniversary of the victory of the troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania over Muscovy, we took this oath. Thousands of people gathered in the Independence Square. People specially came to this event from other cities of Belarus: many officers, sergeants, privates, reserve soldiers. On the stage, 12 officers — members of the leadership of the Interior Ministry — took the oath, in parade uniform. Mikalai Statkevich was the first to take the oath, after the text was signed by the military, who were there. Our main goal was the creation of a popular army.

I fully support the initiative of the Belarusian National Congress to take the oath of allegiance to Belarus. People should be reminded of patriotism and love for their country.