To Regain Departed Values

The previously unknown correspondence between Frederic Chopin and Adam Mickiewicz on the one part and Belarusian painter and composer Napoleon Orda on the other will settle down on his native land in the museum, which is being constructed in Ivanovo District, Brest Region. The copies of the letters discovered by Belarusian diplomats in Paris have been handed over to the compatriots of Napoleon Orda.

Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergey Martynov stated in an interview to a BELTA correspondent, this is the first result of 1.5-year efforts of the Belarusian embassies abroad. They have been painstakingly searching and trying to return national historical and cultural values in accordance with the decree of the Belarusian president and striking results have been achieved already. “We know what and where to search and the results of our work have been submitted to the work group.”

The foreign minister stressed, an interbranch work group is being set up under the Cabinet of Ministers. It consists of the representatives of Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Culture and other agencies concerned. They are up for a major effort aimed at finding ands bringing back home cultural and historical heritage of Belarus. Sergey Martynov noted, the results of these activities should form the basis of the correspondent Programme.

The minister believes that “the return of cultural and historical values to Belarus is a patriotic duty of each of us. Due to certain historical events, Belarus lost a considerable part of its cultural heritage, which is why these efforts should be of a state character.”