Lukashenko: any sovereign country strong with its time-honoured traditions
Minsk’s Palace of the Republic has hosted a charity event today – held within the framework of Our Children campaign with participation of the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko. The country’s main New Year’s Eve campaign is rightfully considered the most important event in terms of its social and emotional significance. The holiday began unexpectedly: the Head of State presented gifts to Father the Frost and Snow Maiden.
In particular, the President emphasised that everyone usually addresses Father the Frost for gifts, while he rarely receives them. “So I decided that today, on my and your behalf, we will congratulate our Father the Frost and Snow Maiden and give them presents. These include New Year's drinks for adults and sweets,” he said.
Addressing the young participants of the event, Aleksandr Lukashenko warmly congratulated them on the upcoming New Year. The President noted that the New Year is a holiday of magic, fun and gifts, and children begin to celebrate it before anyone else: as soon as Christmas trees are lit in kindergartens and schools.
The Head of State noted that Belarusians have a lot of traditions in this regard, “I always say that any country is strong due to its traditions. If we speak of a sovereign and independent country, then it means it should have its own, Belarusian, time-honoured traditions. We have many such traditions.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko mentioned the ball for young people held on December 28th at the Palace of Independence as an example: this traditional event has been held on New Year's Eve for several years already – ‘by analogy with the Vienna Ball’. “Actually, Viennese offered us to hold their Vienna Ball in our Independence Palace, but I then wondered why it should be the Vienna one. We will hold the Belarusian New Year's Ball. So it became a tradition. We have another tradition these days: the New Year Tree with the President. There will be other presidents, but this tradition will remain – if, of course, you want it,” the Head of State said.
As noted by Aleksandr Lukashenko, the organisers have a serious approach to such festive events, “On every New Year's Eve, all of us – organisers and participants – are thoroughly preparing for meetings with you, doing this reasonably in advance. Those who think that it is easy to perform for children and organise events for them are mistaken. Ask your educators and teachers…”
The Belarusian leader emphasised that the New Year is a holiday that encourages every adult to become a wizard. “What do wizards do? They make wishes come true,” he stressed.
