Unfortunately, this expression is most directly linked to the history of our native Belarus. And the reason for that is our eastern neighbor, whom we did not choose and who has never been our brother or friend. And never in the history has it recognized either our country or its people as independent and autonomous. On the contrary, throughout our history, Russia has sought to occupy us, assimilate us and imprison us in its empire.
And today history is repeating itself. The Eastern Empire only changes its name, but does not change its conquering essence.
And our native Belarus once again becomes its victim. And once again it faces the threat of disaster. After all, disasters - humanitarian, military, man-made - are what we invariably received from the Eastern Empire.
More than 30 years ago, we again had a historic chance to break free from Russia's embrace, to find true independence and to restore ourselves as an independent people and an independent Belarusian nation.
But even then, what was left of the then empire called the USSR came up with a way to keep Belarus in its sphere of influence. The name of this method is the pro-Russian Lukashenko regime, whose "historical role" from the very beginning was to destroy the sovereignty of Belarus and return it to a colonized and today it can already be said to be an occupied state.
We escaped from the clutches of the empire - and are, in fact, back into it again. By the hands of the "governor" named Lukashenko. Who, just like in his time the same executioner, Voevoda Ant, bloodily stifled the Belarusians' resistance to arbitrariness. And then he turned Belarus into a Russian military training ground.
Yes, the events of 2020 can be called an anti-imperial uprising. But looking at them in retrospect, it becomes clear why the 2020 protests were so brutally suppressed with the full support of Russia.
After all, when we went out to the protests and marches, we carried our true national symbols over our heads. After all, even after centuries of Russian oppression, we have not forgotten our flag, on which the history of our struggle and suffering, our desire for freedom and independence is written in red and white. It bears the blood of our predecessors and now the blood of our contemporaries who have given their lives for a free Belarus.
The names of the leaders of the revolts and the executed poets are inscribed on it. And now there are new names - the names of peaceful protesters and the callsigns of volunteer soldiers.
History repeats itself and pulls us back into the empire that brought terrible mass repression to our country and almost completely destroyed the national elite. The empire that brought us partridges and under whose wing this terror is repeated today. Because today, our elite is again being destroyed in prisons, again destroying everything national.
And under the name "Union State", the hands of "governor" Lukashenko are restoring the empire that brought us the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 on Belarusian soil. And today he wants to repeat it by drawing a nuclear target on our country.
This empire is trying to recover from the fire of war against Ukraine, into which the occupied Belarus has been dragged by the hands of Lukashenko. And the fire of this war may at any time spill over to our homeland. And this is not just a fire - it is a nuclear fire, because the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons, which Lukashenko dreamed of all the time of his arbitrary rule, creates such risks for Belarus.
History is repeating itself before our eyes. But do we agree to be mere observers, remembering perfectly well the consequences of Chernobyl, remembering perfectly that catastrophe? Do we agree to turn into a nuclear target, understanding the possible consequences of the actions of Lukashenko and his Kremlin masters? Has Belarus badly learned the nuclear lesson of Chernobyl? So do we want to repeat it?
I don't believe so. And that's why I urge you to tell the truth. Say "no!" to nuclear weapons. Say "no!" to dictatorship and say "no!" to any alliance with Russia. It will be loud. Be determined and responsible for the fate of your homeland, no matter how far away we are from it now.
After all, we are all Belarusians and Belarusians. We are all one nation. And if Lukashenko, the Russian puppet, silences the voice of the people inside the country, we, the Belarusians abroad, must be even louder outside. To inspire the Belarusians inside Belarus and demonstrate to the world that we are against war with Russia, against nuclear weapons, against Lukashenko and against empire.
That is why today we say "no!" to dictatorship, "no" to the "Russian world" and "no!" to a second Chernobyl! History must not repeat itself again, we - the Belarusians and the Belarusians - must write the history of Belarus! Time to act!