“Mikalai Says to Belarusians Today: Don’t Stop - And Everything Will Be Fine”

The leader of the Belarusian opposition Mikalai Statkevich turned 65.

Today one of the leaders of the democratic opposition, the legend of the Belarusian Resistance, the head of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party Narodnaya Hramada Mikalai Statkevich celebrates his 65th birthday.

Unfortunately, he, like many prisoners of the regime, meets his birthday behind bars. The website Charter97.org spoke with the wife of the politician Maryna Adamovich.

- August 9 marks one year since the beginning of continuous protests in Belarus. Belarusian solidarity amazed the whole world, and the topic of changes in Belarus continues to remain on the main pages of the leading mass media. What, in your opinion, have the Belarusians managed to achieve this year?

- Firstly, it seems to me that it started earlier. The peculiarities of this presidential campaign, the next year, and the fate of Belarusians have already manifested themselves in May 2020. The main thing that the Belarusians have managed to achieve is to realize their unity, their responsibility for the future of the whole country, to cultivate a willingness to take this responsibility into their own hands. I think that, no matter how events develop in the very near future, changes are absolutely inevitable.

- Many political experts say the same: no matter how hard Lukashenka tries to turn the page, the situation in Belarus will never be the same. Can we say that his regime was in a stalemate and the protests set off a countdown for him?

- I think it certainly started earlier. The protests that kicked off the countdown for the regime began, it seems to me, back in 2017. With the decree on "parasites" and the protests it caused, when people who had not previously taken part in any political campaigns really started to come out. And it seems to me that it is now a matter of time before this regime leaves because change is irreversible. You can make society hide for a while, but it is no longer possible to make society fall in love, believe, and want to live in this swamp. Now is indeed the time when the countdown for the regime has begun.

- An important husband, leader of the Social Democratic Party Narodnaya Hramada Mikalai Statkevich once said: “When the Belarusians will have hope, you will not recognize them.” How do you assess the protest potential of Belarusians today? How great is the hatred of the Lukashenka regime among the people?

- Sometimes it seems that “everything is over,” that people “submitted.” Look around - cafes are full, people live a normal everyday life. But important details, random words, reactions from these people show that people are simply waiting, that people have not submitted, that people have realized what they do not want. Perhaps, these requirements have not been fully formed, not reflected, the events of the last year have not been analyzed. It seems to me that this is our main mistake - we do not reflect on the events of our past, even the most immediate ones. So, people know exactly what they don't want. Perhaps, we need to understand exactly what steps the Belarusian society wants to accelerate these changes.

- Mikalai Statkevich was arrested even before the elections and the start of the mass protests. Why is the regime so afraid of him?

- The regime may have realized that the gross mistakes it made during the coronavirus pandemic at the beginning of that campaign would not allow it to be carried out like in 2015. The logical thing for such a regime - to continue his rule at any cost - always leads to the fact that it is necessary, first of all, to get rid of real rivals. First of all, it is necessary to isolate the people who the regime always associates with the expectation of trouble. Mikalai never obeyed, he always knew what his main goal was. One such person is more dangerous for the regime than thousands.

- You recently said that Mikalai looks like a free person, confident in himself and in what he does. How does he manage to remain a free person, even while behind bars?

- Obviously, it's all inside: will, joy, and love. Freedom and non-freedom are always within us. He has this unconditional will, freedom inside him, and it does not leave him. He knows what he wants, he knows what he is doing for this. Even behind bars, he is no less dangerous for the regime, no less free than any of us at large.

- Long before 2020, Mikalai had already become a legend of resistance. During many political campaigns, people said that they draw energy and inspiration from communication with him. What does he tell you and his associates in his letters now? And how does he manage to maintain his fighting spirit and keep it up in others?

- I think that this is absolute freedom and absolute confidence that everything that you do is right. Absolute confidence in their correctness and the inevitable logic of events that will lead to the outcome we expect. Mikalai constantly, even in the absence of information, analyzes the situation and periodically sends me little sketches.

At one time, he began a whole series of such publications, analyzing the resources of the regime and the protesters, and concluded that victory depends on the resources of the parties and singled out several: force, moral, international, and so on. And lately, he believes that the authorities, with their insane actions, are doing everything themselves, step by step, in order to destroy the resources they have. To date, the international resource has been completely destroyed by these insane actions: arrests, accusations of the United States of America and Europe in preparing a "worldwide conspiracy" against Belarus. Everything works against the regime: from the arrest of Feduta, Zinkevich, Kostusev to the landing of an airplane and sabotage with refugees at the border. The international resource was completely destroyed, and the most "liberal" minister turned into a classic gendarme. The immense use of the military resource with which Lukashenka is forced to plug all holes, on the contrary, reduces any of his chances.

Mikalai really supports people behind bars, at large, in exile, and his optimism can only be envied. Optimism in this case is a bad word. His faith, his conviction can only be envied.

- The countries of Europe, as well as the USA, Britain, and Canada have introduced sectoral sanctions against the Lukashenka regime. Mikalai in past years has repeatedly criticized the West for the half-heartedness of decisions to counter the dictatorship and sought more decisive measures. How do you assess the current position of Western countries in relation to the Lukashenka regime?

- At least, I am glad that, for the first time, the countries of the West are unanimous in their decision, in their attitude to this regime, in its non-recognition, its condemnation, and its rejection. That's all I can say. Let's wait and see further. I am glad that they really understood that such a regime has no place in the modern world and that such regimes, like cancer, spread if not removed in time.

- Today Mikalai Statkevich celebrates his birthday. Unfortunately, he is forced to meet this day behind bars. What would you like to say to Mikalai on this day?

- You know, I don't like public addresses on personal topics...

- Another question to you, then. What can and should we do to free people who are important to us, who were thrown behind bars by the regime and became political prisoners?

- This is the most painful question of today. I have only one answer - don't stop, just don't stop. Everyone should keep his small, personal bastion in his place. Educate yourself as a human being, cultivate your aversion to what is happening, and be a human being under absolutely any circumstances. Do not carry out criminal orders, do not lower your head, forget forever the classic: "well, you understand." No, we have not understood for a long time. It is now impossible to understand the readiness of people who are decent in other conditions, who could live a decent life under any other government, to submit to this evil. Raise a person in yourself and do not give up.

- What factors can become decisive for the fall of the Lukashenka regime, in your opinion?

- It is difficult to say what factors can become decisive because all this can actually happen today and tomorrow... But I think that the unanimous will of society, the thirst for change, and an accurate understanding of not only what we do not want, but also that what we want. It's time to form, let's say, a common message to the universe: what the Belarusians want, what they are striving for. So far, the protests began precisely with an understanding of what we do not want. It's time to form positive desires: what do Belarusians want.

- Even in the most difficult times, one or two well-aimed and biting phrases of Mikalai in the address of the "sly-ass" had a tremendous effect and mobilized people. What would your husband say today to Belarusians who continue to fight for freedom?

- It's absolutely obvious. Don't stop, and everything will be fine. Belarusians deserve and beautiful and wonderful life in a beautiful and wonderful country.

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