The majority of the population of Belarus is Russian people. Vitebsk, Mogilev and a number of other settlements are Russian cities that do not want to be outside the Russian state.
Elvira Mirsalimova, deputy chairman of the Belarusian Republican Party of Labor and Justice, stated this on air on the ForPost Internet channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to Mirsalimova, without Russia, the Belarusian economy will collapse and people will be impoverished.
“Lukashenko was supported at what expense? For all his rhetoric for unification with Russia. I came from Vitebsk - well, it’s a Russian city, Lukashenko himself said that we are one people, and Vitebsk, like Mogilev, are Russian cities. Russian people live in Belarus.
And when I hear what they say. “Let Belarusians first mature and understand that they need Russia.” Listen, they don’t need to mature - the Belarusians were from the beginning, we didn’t want to leave the Soviet Union, we supported Lukashenko precisely for the Union State. That is, we initially wanted to be together and most people understand that yesterday’s independent successes were ensured exclusively by Russia, Russian loans, Russian subsidies, preferences, Russian markets,” Mirsalimova said.
She also emphasized that today there is total de-Russification in Belarus, which is not supported by 98% of the population.
“In the last few years, Belarus has already been turning away from Russia. Under Lukashenko, processes are taking place that are becoming irreversible. What does this mean? First, we hear: “Independence”, “sovereignty”. This is an imposition of the sanctity of sovereignty, which is presented as independence from Russia. Listen, Belarusian citizens never wanted to be independent; in principle, our economy is completely tied up.
As soon as we become independent, that’s it, we will immediately experience collapse and poverty. Then, creeping de-Russification is happening now. There is no need for Tikhanovskaya to come - so, Tikhanovskaya came to power, that’s it, she abolished the Russian language - a creeping, total de-Russification has already been going on here over the past few years. Signs at train stations and combs on the streets are being replaced.
Moreover, the Belarusian language, a certain Belarusian Latin alphabet, which is unreadable, and Russian is simply removed. This is not Belarusization, this is de-Russification. Russian-speaking people, 98%, and they look at the signs and cannot read what is written there. Moreover, the Belarusian state propaganda machine gives people the idea that our Belarusian language is the only native language of Belarusian citizens,” the politician noted.