Sławomir Sierakowski: There Are 200 Politicians In Minsk Now

The discussion "Why won't Belarusians surrender?" took place on September 6 in Warsaw.

The main guest of the discussion was the Polish publicist, founder of the Krytyka Polityczna portal Sławomir Sierakowski, who has just returned from protest Minsk.

The event was hosted by Polish journalist, historian and publicist Kazimierz Wóycicki. The event was organized by Charter'97, the Krytyka Polityczna portal and Warsaw's Chopin Salon at the Nowy Swiat Muzyki House of Music.

At the beginning of the meeting, Sławomir Sierakowski drew attention to the fact that Belarusians are primarily fighting for freedom. Social problems in the country do not play a key role.

"The revolution in Belarus is taking place under the slogans of freedom. Social slogans are not heard there. This is despite the fact that not everyone is happy there because of the economic situation. Belarus has problems with economic development. GDP has not grown for a long time. Belarusians see that prices are rising, but their salaries are not. Dissatisfaction with the economic agenda is growing rapidly, but this is neither the first, nor the second, nor even the third problem of Belarusians," Sławomir Sierakowski notes.

"The first problem of Belarusians is that Diktashenko rules," Sierakowski accidentally made a reservation, combining the words "dictator" and part of Lukashenka's surname. The guests of the meeting greeted the reservation with applause.

"Another problem, why people in the West know and speak so little about Belarus, is also Lukashenka," Sławomir Sierakowski continued. Because we (the countries of Western Europe - Charter97.org) assess the country through the prism of a dictator. This is also one of the reasons why people do not want to see Lukashenka in power," the Polish journalist noted.

Sławomir Sierakowski during his visit to Belarus talked to many people of different professions and views. The journalist was surprised by the education and political involvement of Belarusians.

"There are 200 thousand politicians in Minsk now. Everyone talks about politics. They are all politically educated. This is an important moment in the history of Belarus. Now incredible things are happening in the country. Belarusians are showing incredible courage. Look at the photos. Look at the women who approach these riot policemen and look them in the eyes. Such modern, creative, outstripping the era in terms of modern technologies and thoughts, young people, and the protests and demonstrations themselves ... I can talk about this for a long time, but you can see it all with your own eyes," he said.

The publicist noted the key role of women in the history of the Belarusian revolution.

"The Belarusian revolution will go down in history for several reasons. First, this is the post-Internet revolution. But the most important point is women, says Sławomir Sierakowski. - This is a revolution of women: both in the phase of pre-election activities, and in the phase of protests. The women took all the burden. As soon as a crisis situation arises, women come out and solve problems. Belarusian women are brave and more decisive. The first strategy of the authorities after the elections is terror. For two or three days it was necessary to run from the security forces. On Pushkinskaya they just fired, they fired for some unknown reason. And after this terror against the citizens, it was necessary to think five times before going out into the street. But the women, without any doubt, came out to a protest that was not planned, not announced anywhere. Women simply took to the streets in white and with flowers themselves. It was the moment of ascension.They seemed to have raised the banner and said: "We continue the struggle!"

“Women in Belarus have started to play a very important role in different formats. They come to support the workers in the factories, defend the arrested, go to the cordons of the riot police. And these scenes become a symbol. This symbol circles all over Belarus and motivates people," the Polish publicist noted.

Sławomir Sierakowski told how he unwittingly became a "Belarusian" when he was in the thick of events in the first days of protests in Minsk.

"I didn't feel like a journalist in Belarus. In the atmosphere that reigned there, I seemed to have become a Belarusian. When I was called, for example, by TVN (a popular Polish TV channel - approx. Charter97.org) to find out what was happening in Minsk, I kept saying "we": "We are going", "We were surrounded", "There are many of us". I even felt uncomfortable later, because I am not Belarusian, and this all belongs to Belarusians. It was them who dared to take to the streets," the founder of the portal "Krytyka Polityczna" shared his impressions.

After answering questions from the audience, Zbigniew Bujak, a well-known figure of the Polish opposition of the times of the Polish People's Republic, one of the founders of the legendary Solidarity, took the floor.

"One of the organizers of today's meeting is Charter'97. My wife and I made a modest decision to send 100 zlotys to the account of the website every month until the victory. We will certainly send more, but I am now talking about this symbolic amount. I calculated that if there are a thousand of such veterans of Solidarity, then for Charter'97 it will be solid support that will allow the site to work not only now, not only during the victory, but also after it," Zbigniew Bujak said.

“Recalling the Polish experience, I cannot imagine the time before Solidarity, during or when there was martial law without Radio Free Europe. Today Charter'97 is one of the modern portals that fulfills this very role. We should be able to do this. And we would all be glad if Charter'97 could function thanks to donations from Polish citizens," said the leader of Solidarity.

At the end of the event, Kazimierz Wóycicki suggested on Saturday, September 12, to gather on the main street of Warsaw, Nowy Swiat and march in support of the people of Belarus.

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