Lukashenko and Monuments

Pavel Latushka, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, Representative of the Cabinet for the Transition of Power, Head of the National Anti-Crisis Management, Leader of the "Latushka Team and the Movement 'For Freedom'" faction within the 3rd convocation of the Coordination Council.

Pavel Latushka on the Dictator's Desire to Erect a Monument to the Chinese Leader Amidst His Stance on Monuments to Belarusian Figures

The dictator has his own position on the issue of monuments. He believes that erecting monuments means creating a problem in the future, that someone else will come to power and tear them down.

Lukashenko does not understand the essence of national culture and its connection to history, the significance of these spheres for state-building. And, probably, he will never be able to understand this. After all, he is not Belarusian.

I recall how, during my time as Minister of Culture, I sought to open an entire gallery of monumental art in Hlybokaye. At that time, it was also planned to hold Belarusian Written Language Days in this city in the Vitebsk region. During an organizing committee meeting held in the Council of Ministers, I had a conversation with the Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, who said that we had no money for installing monuments. To which I replied: you don't have money for this, but the Ministry of Culture does. And I allocated funds for this project from the ministry's budget.

What kind of monuments were these? Among them were busts of the artist and sculptor Yazep Drazdovich, the theater figure and founder of the first Belarusian professional theater Ihnat Buyinitsky, the public and political figure, Prime Minister of the Belarusian People's Republic Vaclau Lastouski, the statesman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Juzef Korsak, the creator of modern Hebrew Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, and others.

At that time, many important projects for opening monuments to our famous figures were implemented. During my tenure as minister, the most significant for me were the monument to Uladzimir Karatkevich in Kyiv, the memorial plaque to Frantsishak Bahushevich and the restoration of the plaque in honor of Yanka Kupala in Vilnius, and the monument to Stanislau Manyushka in Cherven.

---