Today Stanislau Shushkevich, a Belarusian politician and the first leader of independent Belarus, has been honoured with the degree of Doctor honoris causa at Warsaw School of Economics.
A representative of Polish President Bronisław Komorowski delivered a speech followed by slogan ‘Zhyvie Belarus!’ (Long Live Belarus!).
Stanislau Shushkevich was born in 1934. He was Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Byelorussian SSR. On December 8, 1991, in Belavezhskaya Pushcha the leaders of Belarus, Russia (Boris Yeltsin) and Ukraine (Leonid Kravchuk) signed a declaration that the Soviet Union was dissolved and replaced by the Commonwealth of Independent States; the declaration later became known as the ‘Belavezha Accords’. After the USSR collapsed he became head of independent Belarus (September, 1991 to January, 1994). He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize several times.
As a scientist, he was Corresponding Member of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences, Doctor in Physics and Mathematics, recipient of various state awards, professor, and the author and originator of textbooks and over 150 articles and 73 inventions.
Perhaps, Stanislau Shushkevich is the only ex-leader of a European country who has to earn his living after his retirement: Lukashenka’s regime deprived him of pension payments.
