Kochanova: Belarusians must be united as a monolith if they want to live in peace
"We need to work with people, we need to help people – and this is the strength of our state," Natalya Kochanova, the Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly, urged those present at an expanded meeting of the Council of the Republic, adding, “There is no other way today, this is how it all works in our country. This is what the Head of State demands from us, and he is absolutely right – since the world is going mad.”
Ms. Kochanova believes everything that is happening in the world right now cannot but arouse concern among Belarusians. “Distortion of the historical truth, alternative values that are being imposed are not our path: ours is different. We have our own, good traditions, and there are quite a lot of them in our sovereign country. We adhere to them, and we are developing them. They are becoming our country’s brand names,” she said.
As an example, the Chairperson of the Council of the Republic mentioned Our Children campaign, recalling Aleksandr Lukashenko’s proposal to further develop it, also directing it to the elderly, “We actively began to work and saw that these people really need to be supported. Actually, we have always supported them, but our young people have got inspired with the idea even more. We will not be young anymore, but we will be such [elderly]. Time will pass quickly, and we will grow older.”
Ms. Kochanova focused on an important aspect: everything that is happening in the country, including work with citizens, is Belarusians’ common concern if they want to further live in their peaceful, calm country. “Meanwhile, peace and calmness – and even more so independence and sovereignty – are worth a lot. This refers also to the country’s independent policy and to how our people have been withstanding the sanctions pressure against Belarus. You can see that we have not slowed down, but have even progressed. Pensions have been increased three times over a year, and salaries for budget-funded organisations’ employees have grown. More funding has been allocated this year to protect and support our citizens in social areas, and this is a huge work of people who live and work in our country. The system built here can serve as an example for many countries," she stressed.
The Chairperson of the Council of the Republic expressed confidence that many countries are well aware of the advantages of the system built in Belarus. “Our country has not lost anything: it is rather multiplying everything, despite the events happening around. Meanwhile, we must realise, appreciate and bring this to citizens’ understanding and consciousness. Sometimes, by our inattentive attitude to a person and unwillingness to talk and to listen, we cross out everything that is created by much effort and for many years bit by bit, forming our country as peaceful and sovereign, where justice towards people is a priority,” Ms. Kochanova noted.
According to her, it is impossible to act differently based on the tasks set by the Head of State. “We must do everything to preserve peace and calmness, so that our country will continue to develop and we will not even allow any attempts to make someone covet it. We must be united as a monolith,” the Chairperson of the Council of the Republic stressed.
Ms. Kochanova added that purposeful work is being carried out against Belarus, “So we should not betray our older generations, those who defended peace and freedom, those who have been creating our country bit by bit. We must do everything in our power to ensure this.”
