Valeryj Sakhashchyk Becomes Supporter Of Belarus Joining NATO
- 13.07.2023, 13:57
The former Belarusian military officer believes that Europe should be taken as a model.
Valeryj Sakhashchyk, a representative of Tsikhanouskaya's office, assessed the attention to the Belarusian issue at the NATO summit in an interview to Radio Svaboda, commented on what NATO could do in relation to Belarus and how the attitude of the majority of Belarusians to the bloc might change.
Here are a few quotes from the conversation.
- After they started talking about the deployment of nuclear weapons and the Wagner group on the territory of Belarus, Belarus is on the agenda of all our neighbours, NATO countries, and everyone is working on a strategy with regard to Belarus. After all, everyone sees a big threat.
- And what could NATO do with respect to Belarus?
- The best thing is political pressure. No one is going to solve the case by military action. Economic sanctions could be stronger. I believe that political pressure could lead to a change in the situation in Belarus.
- People in Belarus are brought up on the post-Soviet rhetoric, according to which NATO is the enemy. How will Belarusians perceive the participation of you and Sviatlana Tsikhanovskaya in such an event?
- I was once under the influence of Soviet propaganda too. I was an officer of the Soviet army, we were ready to go to attack Europe. But then, when I became a free man, I saw that people like us live in Europe. We have nothing to fight for with each other.
Life in Europe is better than in Belarus, even more so in Russia. And we should take Europe as a model. Our grandfathers were a European nation. We were Europe. Asian despotism came to us later. Belarusians should return to their historical path.
- Join NATO in the future?
- Why not? This is a matter to be decided by the whole nation. In my opinion, it would be much calmer and safer.
- Wouldn't it provoke Russia to certain actions?
- Everything should be decided through democracy. Today there is a great influence of propaganda, Russian and pro-Russian. But even under this influence we see that a minority of Belarusians support Russia, unification with it, deployment of nuclear weapons and "Wagner" group in Belarus. And if people have an opportunity to get information, the situation will change considerably. I am sure that the absolute majority of people will express their desire to live in Europe.