Seeing off this year we are presenting a collection of its kickers:
January
A marathon dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the insurrection against the Russian authorities started: it was marked by dispute on the proper historical conceptualization of the event between official ideologists and independent historians.
Picture by Piotr Serhiyevich
In Moscow a group of enthusiasts launched Mova CiKava, a course of the Belarusian language for all who wanted to master it.
February
Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation in Latin during a meeting with cardinals on February 11, 2013.
Phot. osservatoreromano.va
The Chelyabinsk meteor, a near-Earth asteroid that entered Earth’s atmosphere over Russia’s Chelyabinsk on 15 February 2013, brought not only the world’s fame but also fear, blood and damage to the region.
March
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. ‘I don’t want to die. Please don’t let me die,’ he said. Belarus declared three-day mourning; Aliaksandr Lukashenka and his son Kolya attended the funeral.
Belarusians celebrated the Freedom Day: according to the organizers, about two thousand people participated in the action. Some were detained. Belsat TV presented a special video on the occasion.Belsat’s fans recommended us key words reflecting contemporary Belarusians’ associations with the image of the BNR (‘Honour’, ‘Hope’, ‘Dignity’, ‘Self-determination’, ‘Independence’, ‘Freedom’, ‘Fight’, ‘Bravery’, ‘Motherland’.) . It is the words indicating the interconnection between nowadays and historic development that have provided the ground for the video.
April
Ashmiany district court found ‘the extremist nature’ of photobook Belarus Press Photo 2011. The copies of the photobook that were seized by Belarusian customs officers In November 2012. Being declared illegal by customs experts the copies were to have been burnt but later they were sent for re-inspection.
Photographers near Ashmiany district court building.
May
Belarusian singer Alyona Lanskaya took part in the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden’s Malmo but came eleventh. She is best remembered for her extremely short dress, not for vocality.
June
Feeling alarmed at the outbreak of African swine fever rural ciizens in Belarus slaughtered their hogs.
In Homel BATE fans said goodbye to ex-head coach Viktar Hancharenka with help of a banner in Belarusian: ‘Your merits are our pride!’
During his official visit toYerevan an unknown blonde was in attendance upon the Belarusian President. The both were being driven in the same car which even Lukashenka Jr was not let into. Belsat TV made an attempt to identify her.
July
At a meeting on hunting and fishing regulations Aliaksandr Lukashenka stated that he had caught a catfish weighing 57 kilograms. It is notheworthy that Lukashenka’s unexpected declaration was voiced soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin had been pictured having caught a pike weighing 21 kilograms while on holiday in Siberia. By the way, bloggers came to the conclusion that no pike of such size could weigh more than 12 kg.
On July 26 the Belarusian leader revealed that authorities had recently arrested an officer of a Belarusian intelligence agency who had supplied information to “foreign states” through representatives of the Catholic Church. After his statement the information on the arrest of priest Uladzislau Lazar appeared in social media.
A potash war broke out between Russia and Belarus.
August
Zmitser Dashkevich, Young Front leader, was released from Hrodna prison. Some days later he and his fiancee Nasta Palazhanka, got married.
September
The head of state voiced his intention to impose a duty for Belarusians who go shopping to foreign countries. Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Prakapovich expressed readiness to fulfill the order, but Lukashenka changed his mind.
Belarusian publisher Ihar Lohvinau was stripped of the license by the Ministry of information which referred to the decision of Ashmiany district court of Hrodna region on April 18, 2013 saying that the album Belarus Press Photo 2011, published by this publisher house, was extremist. The publisher house Lohvinau has been one of the leading publishers of the Belarusian literature.
October
Political prisoner Pavel Seviarynets was released. He was arrested on December 20, 2010 and later sentenced to 3 years of restriction of liberty for ‘organization and participation in actions that seriously disrupt civil order’.
People meeting Seviarynets in Minsk
November
The Ukrainian government put an end to the preparations for signing an association agreement with the EU, which triggered mass protests in the country: on November, 21 hundreds of thousands occupied a central square in Kyiv, expressing their outrage against President Yanukovych’s decision. The protests have an anti-Russian component because aiming at derailing the EU deal Russia threatened with trade retaliation against Ukraine.
At EuroMaidan in Kyiv
Mr Andrey Belyakou filed a lawsuit against Belsat TV claiming that the channel had been illegally using its trade mark. It is curious that his company BELSATplus is not seeking any money compensation: its only demand is to make satellite ASTRA stop Belsat’s transmission.
December
Ales Charkashyn, an activist of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party, was put to mental hospital for holding a performance on the steps of Brest region executive committee: he had poured red dye over his hands and tied them with a chain. The activist addressed to the nation, Belarus’s authorities and God: ‘Collapse, unemployment, international conflicts, discontent, hunger are reserved for Belarus. Unless each repents in the inmost recesses of their hearts Belarusian blood will be shed and all the prisons will be packed’.
On December, 25 Holy Synod took decision to dismiss Metropolitan Philaret (Vakhromeev) of Minsk as Metropolitan of Minsk and Patriarchal Exarch of Belarus. Metropolitan Pavel (Ponomarev) of Ryazan was appointed on this position. He has no connection to Belarus at all. His saying that Russian people have weapons of mass destruction and atomic bomb, and can ‘open Chernobyl tap’ in their struggle against Western enemies shocked Belarusian media-space.
