It's A Slow Life There In Europe

Do you still go to Zybitskaya?

The end of the last week coincided with the start of the academic year, and news about mass detentions on Zybitskaya was merely noticed amid high prices for school uniform and First Bells. And it's reasonable: there is more than a million schoolchildren in the country, while there were only 18 people detained on September 1. One could fail to notice and consider them as tolerable losses.

However, if we put it simple, these several dozens plus those detained in July, June, in sping, in winter and so on - there are already hundreds of them. Every time when the detained later share there story with journalists or on social networks, the police explain the detained were drinking alcohol outdoors. Or they were under the influence.

In June, by an ironic quirk, self-conceited police comments on news feed coincided with announcements of jazz evenings which the major part of Minsk residents liken to the riot police, paddy wagons around a concert ground and metal detectors. The picture of the day, to be more precise, the picture of the life turned scary, and resembled of the regime in a penal institution.

Several years ago I shared my thoughts about those sweet hipster admirations about Zybitskaya Street - "the way to Europe". And I don't want to repeat. Now we have something to compare with. My family had vacation in Poland. In the August evening we went to listen to a concert in Stare Miasto. By the way, it was the concert of Richard Galliano. Galliano is a world-known accordionist, as if he was a French brother of the very Astor Piazzolla - as sad and great as he, though his bandoneon sounds completely different. Oh, it sounds in a French style, of course. But it's not about Galliano, but about spectators.

They were drinking. Right in the square. Ones were drinking beer, other were drinking cocktails taken in a bar and approached the podium, some people could not stand sitting in a street cafe and took a glass of wine with them and joined the crowd. All those people were drinking alcohol in a public place. And they really enjoyed it (an especially scrupulous policeman would wrote it in a protocol: ""In a way that's beyond cold"). In addition, they applaused, whistled, screamed with delight, danced and shouted out "encore!". And it all happened in a public place.

With no police around. No paddy wagons behind the corner, no metal detectors and frames. And after the concert maestro joined the crowd. He shook hands with pleasure, made photos, listened to thanks and admirations, and he managed to say thank you to everyone who approached him.

Input data are very similar. We have jazz evenings near Ratusha, they have Starówka Jazz. Starówka itself is the center of the city life, no one can say whether you're a foreigner or a local. Everyone has fun. And they can drink, by the way. You can pretend it's a huge Zybitskaya. If you combine Zybitskaya and jazz evenings near Ratusha, you will get "Starówka Jazz". What if there was a podium with all its bars and restaurants in the middle of Zybitskaya? Can you imagine the scene? I imagine lots of riot police officers and drivers of paddy wagons. Because no spectator could make his way through the crowd of the riot police.

By the way, no matter how often I visit Warsaw and how many times I walk along Starówka, I have never seen a policeman, or a paddy wagon. It's a slow life there in Europe, isn't it?

Iryna Khalip, especially for Charter97.org

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