On March 25th, 2025, the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected Head of State took place in Belarus, and the Presidential election held two months prior to that – Aleksandr Lukashenko confidently won then – became the first Presidential campaign organised in accordance with the Constitution amended and updated based on the results of the 2022 nationwide referendum. In his talk with SB TV YouTube channel and Alfa Radio, Dmitry Zhuk, the Deputy Chairman of the Standing Commission on International Affairs and National Security of the Council of the Republic, Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House, shared his impressions of the last year’s inauguration.
As noted by Mr. Zhuk, Belarus has not only developed its own political system and a sovereign socio-economic model that meets the interests of its citizens, but also certain traditions of holding major political events. “Moreover, their aesthetics – understandable and acceptable by society – have been formed. That inauguration was truly solemn, but at the same time not pompous. You could see that. Simultaneously, it made sense, and people could understand its meaning. The ceremony made it possible for all those who wanted to support the President to express their attitude towards him. After all, no room can accommodate the whole country, all those who voted. Just over 1,100 people were invited, but the motorcade of the Head of State was driving along two of our avenues with symbolic names, Nezavisimosti [Independence] and Pobediteley [Victors’] (which was also of some sacred significance, in fact) – and people were greeting it,” he said, adding that the ceremony was very concise, understandable and at the same time very solemn and beautiful, and the President's speech was very succinct.
“Moreover, the Time Has Chosen Us message is very important. Time has chosen us for new achievements, so that we can pass on the foundation, the dynamics to live and develop in the sovereign independent country to our children and grandchildren. In turn, the solemn oath of the Armed Forces and other military formations to our Commander-in-Chief became a simultaneously solemn and extremely meaningful element: it’s perceived in society as the fact that this man assumes responsibility not only for our economic development, but also for the peaceful sky above our heads,” Mr. Zhuk noted.
The host of the programme, Vadim Shepet, recalled that 86.82 percent of the voters who took part in the election supported Aleksandr Lukashenko, and Mr. Zhuk explained, “These figures show that people made an absolutely conscious choice, and most of our citizens are satisfied with the policy pursued by Aleksandr Grigorievich. They do not intend to change the political course, the socio-economic model, the conditions that have been created in our state. Moreover, they have come to a realisation that Belarusians enjoy a certain standard of living, a certain level of prosperity and potential for further development, which must be preserved. There have been enough revolutions in our history. Let's continue to develop evolutionarily, making steady progress step by step – based on our own achievements. The figures show that our citizens are aware and clearly understand that we, the Belarusian people, have achieved these results together, under the leadership of Aleksandr Grigorievich Lukashenko.”
Mr. Zhuk also shared his opinion on how much effort a year under a peaceful sky cost for Belarus and its President, given the current geopolitical processes, “Probably none of us can imagine how much effort it really costs Aleksandr Grigorievich. We cannot imagine how it is possible to shoulder this huge burden of responsibility, and we can only judge by the external results that we observe. We witness a dialogue with the world’s strongest powers, with the Americans, and we also see friendship with Russia and China. Our defence capability is increasing, and modern types of weapons are being deployed on our territory – acting as a guarantee. It is very important today, since many parties will think seriously of whether to get involved in a military conflict with us, because the response will be unequivocally harsh and hardly acceptable for them. This is the very economic model that enables us to develop, raise the standard of living and increase our income, despite the sanctions pressure, accelerating competition in the global market, and difficult logistics due to international sanctions. We are somehow getting out of this situation smoothly, without losses. True, it requires a lot of effort from all of us, but that’s our path!”
