Andrei Sharenda: We Must Insist On Complete Closure Of Battery Plant Near Brest

The authorities are scared of possible politization of the protests and thus linger.

The residents of Brest who take on to the square for the actions of protest against the constructions of the battery plant every Sunday, have achieved partial concessions: a repeated examination has been appointed at the construction object.

Activist of the “European Belarus” civil campaign, representative of the Belarusian National Congress in Brest Andrei Sharenda:

- The authorities are simply deceiving people with the alleged appointment of the new examination. In fact, the plant is close to completion, and I do not think that this examination will give a different answer than it was given by previous ones.

The authorities want to make things as clear as mud and bring down the protest mood of the people. And at this time they themselves are going to quietly finish the construction of the harmful plant.

- How strong are the protest moods in your city?

- People are very determined and come out for protest actions every Sunday. The number of participants of the actions does not decrease, despite arrests and repressions.

- What should protesters do to prevent the authorities from deceiving them?

- First, we need not to believe vague promises about the examinations and continue to go to the central square and the streets of the city. The more street protests there are, the stronger influence we will be able to put on the authorities. Any open protest today for them is like a bone in the throat.

Secondly, it is necessary to clearly demand the complete closure of the battery plant near Brest. We must insist on our own: there is no place for such a plant in the neighborhood of a large settlement. The authorities must understand: there will be no “agreement” with them. They only hope for such a course of events to quietly complete and open this plant.

The situation with the plant in Svetlahorsk, which stopped working, shows that with persistence of people, harmful production can be closed completely. The main thing is not to make concessions.

- What will help to realize this maximum program? What is the strong side of the Brest protests?

- The authorities are afraid of the politicization of our protest. At the actions in Brest, in addition to environmental, political demands are heard more and more often. The people are running out of patience. The authorities see this and want to return the protests to their former, purely ecological, track.

But it is clear that they will not succeed. People see that the issue here is not only in the plant itself. The question is in the total corruption of power - from the local to the very top. The situation with the plant in Brest opened the eyes of many Belarusians: the Lukashenka regime is rotten and ready for any steps in order to earn more money for itself. On health and the future - ours and our children’s.