Mezentsev at Union State Youth Patriotic Forum: patriotism is special soul aspiration

The 1st Youth Patriotic Forum of the Union State kicked off in Minsk, with Belarusian State University (BSU) serving as a platform for communication between representatives of the two countries, exchange of experience and ideas. Over two days, more than sixty students from Belarus and Russia will visit the event – each with their own ideas and projects to preserve historical memory. Taking into account that our states continue to set an example of mutual integration, this meeting is truly significant.

Patriotism is not a curriculum that can be taught in textbooks. This is a special aspiration of the soul. Love for the Motherland cannot be instilled artificially. State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev said at the forum opening that he was pleased with the response from the two countries’ student community, “I’m glad that BSU students, students of the Financial University under the Government of Russia, Ural State Law University and St. Petersburg State University responded to our invitation to talk about historical truth and the meaning of historical memory. This will be a conversation with youngsters as equals. We expect many questions from them and want to find out how they would behave if the events of 1941-1945 and the events of 1812 happened to them. We’ll talk about what is preventing Belarus and Russia from developing today, why the West is so aggressive, and whether we have the right to give up and retreat from our plans for Union State construction.”