Why Do Belarusian Authorities Stick To Parades So Much?

Holidays without particular sense remain very costly to us.

Every spring in Belarus, disputes begin about whether the country needs parades or not. Despite the broken asphalt, noise, complaints of Minsk residents about the blocked city and road accidents with military vehicles, the money from the state budget is still spent on tanks, airplanes, marches and salutes.

When the planes disappear in the summer sunset, and the doors of the garages close behind the tanks, the disputes subside until next year. And the question why the Belarusian authorities stick to the parades so much remains unanswered. Why is it impossible for them to do without parades? Euroradio asked this question to famous Belarusians, and this is what they answered.

Uladzimir Matskevich, philosopher and methodologist:

- Our authorities have a proper understanding of what the people are. They think people just need “cracklings with drinks” and spectacles. In Russian, it sounds like “bread and circuses”. If there is little bread, it is compensated by the circuses. Or maybe, it should be proportional: bread, then circuses, bread again, circuses again and so on. Nothing more is needed. The parade is a show. It always attracts the crowd. Such an ancient totalitarian style of government. The people who, with their mouths open, look at some show, no longer ask questions and are not capable of any action. The profit is obvious.

Aliaksei Bratachkin, historian, employee of the Center for European Studies:

- I do not know why our authorities like parades. No idea. But I think that this is not only the heritage of the Belarusian people. When a national state was formed in the 19th century, this was accompanied by the appearance of all kinds of rituals connected with nationalism, a demonstration of militaristic power. It seems that the tradition has survived until the XXI century.

In general, many countries hold parades. Sociologist Aliaksei Lastouski believes that the importance of July 3 is increasing relative to the memory of May 9. Therefore, the parade was moved to July 3. Such an attempt to give additional status to this date.

I personally do not need parades. I’d like to note, a few years ago, parades were more pacifist. This year, the emphasis has been placed on a more militaristic component, on weapons, which is quite strange for me personally. What does it mean? Perhaps the authorities want to demonstrate the presence of an army, some kind of force on which to rely.

Mikalai Statkevich, leader of the Belarusian National Congress:

- First, this is a toy. Secondly, he [Lukashenka - edit.] wants to offer this toy to others - a significant and not very educated part of the Belarusian society. He does this in order to please them before political campaigns, in order to take away the right to choose their own destiny in elections or in a referendum. So that they are silent, he offers them such entertainment. It is absolutely not unique. All regimes in the world are similar.

On the other hand, every decent state should have its own national holiday - the Independence Day. However, he [Lukashenka - edit.] cannot celebrate the Independence Day, which is associated with the struggle for independence, because this date would work for national consolidation, for historical and patriotic education, which the head of state fears. He does not need consolidation - no matter under what flag. Even under the flag of victory in the World War II, as it happens in Russia. Therefore, he connected the incompatible - celebrating Independence Day on the day of liberation. And this celebration allows him to entertain himself, offer people entertainment, but does not allow patriotic forces to consolidate around the holiday - neither those who could harm independence (supporters of the union of Belarus and Russia), nor those who would defend it. He needs an optimized mass of people, where every man for himself.

Unfortunately, these holidays have particular sense, which they are supposed to have, appear very costly for us. I am not talking about asphalt damaged by tanks, time spent and gasoline burned. In a poor country, a modestly funded army is being forced to hold such shows. You know, all this time we were very lucky that it went without victims.