Natallia Radzina: 2010 Showed That Belarusians Had Always Craved For Freedom

Belarusian society has gained an understanding of who the real opposition leaders are.

13 years ago, tens of thousands of Belarusians took to the streets of Minsk to protect their choice.

Natallia Radzina, the Editor-in-Chief of the Charter97.org website, recalls the Square 2010 events in a comment for our website:

– For me, this means that Belarusians have always fought for their freedom. I took part in 2001, 2006, and 2010 protests. If after the events of December 19, 2010, I could have stayed in Belarus, I would have participated in the 2020 protests too.

The Belarusian people have always craved for freedom. People in Belarus have always protested and fought for their freedom and rights. Strong outbursts of public protest arose because the “presidential elections” were falsified. Let me emphasize that there has always been resistance in society.

2010 is one of the honourable pages of Belarusian history. It testifies that Belarusians have fought, are fighting and will fight for their freedom, dignity, and the dream of living in a free and democratic state.

— You have already touched on this continuity: 2006, 2010, 2020. It is noteworthy that many of the heroes of Square 2010 – Mikalai Statkevich, Pavel Seviarynets, Yauhen Afnahel and Maksim Viniarski – showed themselves 10 years later during the 2020 revolution, becoming real leaders of the Belarusian opposition. What impact did Square 2010 have on the history of Belarus?

– Those people you listed are the real leaders of the Belarusian opposition. If they had been free during the 2020 protests, then I think that they would have led these protests to victory. The 2020 protests were the most massive in the history of modern Belarus.

The regime, which is afraid of brave, determined people, threw them behind bars and did not allow them to lead the protesters three years ago.

The leaders who emerged in the wake of the protests, unfortunately, were too weak, incapable and, probably, controlled. I can’t identify specific services, but I will say that they definitely had no desire to win.

After all, the strategy chosen in 2020 by the so-called coordination council led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaia and her entourage led to the draining of all this mass protest, the destruction of protest potential and mass repressions that have not stopped to this day.

We must learn lessons from what happened. It is important to analyze all events. Belarusian society has gained an understanding of how to act in a situation of harsh dictatorship and war, what needs to be done and who are the real leaders of the Belarusian opposition.