Belarusian officials have ignored the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the insurrection against the Russian authorities.
“I did give a due warning to the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our intention to hold a celebration in the town of Svislach because it is a special place: there are monuments to Kastus Kalinouski and Romuald Traugutt. That is why we were going to celebrate there,” Polish ambassador to Belarus Leszek Szerepka said.
According to the diplomat, at first the local authorities expressed their interest to the idea. But none of them has turned up today and the hypotetic cause of their absence is … a strike of epidemic in the town. “Nobody explained why there was not a single local official at the festivity. But it is natural that having arrived at the town where the celebration is being held I would like to thank them and shake hands. But I did not stand such a chance,” Mr Szerepka said.
Aleh Tarhonski, Head of Svislach district executive committee, states that he has not received any invitation from the Polish side. “We planned the celebrations and commemorated the anniversary. By the way, this Monday was Kastus Kalinouski’s birthday and we were holding events as well. All is OK here. One should not complain. There were not any calls to authorities or requests in writing on the part of the highly-regarded ambassador of Poland,” he said.
Belsat
