Lukashenko explained how he sees Independence Palace and territory around it
At a meeting with Belarus’ youth activists today, President Aleksandr Lukashenko said how he sees the Independence Palace and the territory around it in the future.
The Independence Palace is the most important part of the so-called quarter of the Belarusian statehood, which also includes the National Flag Square, Pobedy (Victory) Park, Belarusian State Museum of Great Patriotic War History and Minsk – Hero-City Stele.
Alina Vasilyeva, a graduate student of the Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after M. Tank, asked the Head of State how this quarter is planned to be developed in the future, and what other objects are to be erected.
“I am not in favour of high-density development,” Aleksandr Lukashenko replied. “You can see that Minsk, despite being in the centre of Europe, is not cluttered with various kinds of buildings. More or less significant objects are not built in Minsk without the approval of the President. I do not think that we will build something here [within the quarter of the Belarusian statehood]. There is nothing to build here. There is already Pobedy Park and Komsomolskoye Lake. You just cannot imagine how dirty it was when I ordered it to be cleaned. We cleaned it out ten, maybe more years ago. I do not see any need in additional construction here. There were various proposals, some buildings were offered – but I did not approve them.”
At the same time, Aleksandr Lukashenko said that the Minsk City Executive Committee was instructed to make proposals on the development of the adjacent territory to make it more cozy, “Layouts will feature what Belarus is rich in, it will be all included – not with regard to the Independence Palace alone, but also around it. We have castles and museum complexes that have been restored in Belarus. Perhaps we will make models of them here – so that people can see and probably decide to visit these places later. Everything here around and indoors will be landscaped. We will do this in stages, without excessive expenditure.”
