Nikolai Statkevich: The Storming Of Our Bastille Is Still Ahead Of Us

• 15.07.2026, 8:34

The Belarusian opposition leader met with French diplomats.

July 14 is France’s national holiday—Bastille Day. On this day, former political prisoner and Belarusian opposition leader Nikolai Statkevich, together with his wife Marina Adamovich, personally conveyed his congratulations to her official representatives, he reported on his Telegram channel:

— In the history of every successful nation, there has been its own storming of the Bastille: a victorious revolution, a won war for independence, or the mobilization of society for the sake of difficult but successful reforms. There were sacrifices and the nation’s hard work for the sake of a normal life for its future generations.

When a country is in trouble and its future is in danger, and the prevailing attitude among the active part of the nation is that the main thing is to preserve one’s own life and freedom—that one must, first and foremost, to strive for one’s own well-being and security—then the dominance of such an approach robs future generations of a normal future. It makes the price of their efforts to create a free and successful country even higher and more demanding.

I congratulate the French on their main holiday!

And the storming of the Belarusian Bastille still lies ahead of us.