Lukashenko presents state awards to those who were on the cutting edge in very difficult times for Belarus
The ceremony of presenting state awards took place on August 24th at the Independence Palace, BelTA reports
For exemplary performance of official duties, significant merits in military service and high professionalism, the Head of State awarded three dozen military men and representatives of law enforcement agencies: the Defence Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the State Border Committee, the State Security Committee, and the President’s Security Service.
As the President of Belarus noted, these people were on the cutting edge in very difficult times for the country. High awards were also received today by a number of civilians who showed determination and courage in the most difficult conditions while ensuring security and restoring order in the country in August and autumn 2020.
“The events of those unforgettable for you and me, memorable, one might say, days of 2020 go further and further into the depths of history. We are more and more asking the question: what was it really? An assessment of those events has been given, and it’s not my goal today repeat it. I can only say one thing: just like a person from birth, so any nation writes its history. Looking back, we state the facts of our life with regret or pride,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. “Some have not very pleasant pages while others are proud of the years they have lived. In the same way, our Belarusian people, in general, peoples in history assess their past.”
The President stated that from this point of view, 2020 did not add anything good in connection with these events. “Meanwhile, the Belarusian people managed to withstand. We coped and survived. This is worthy of it. If we assess that these were difficult days, difficult August and September, but we survived, we can be proud of this page from this point of view,” the Belarusian leader stressed.
The Head of State addressed the participants of the ceremony, “First of all, I want to thank our people, above all, all of you. Almost all of you here are military people. We survived primarily thanks to your courage and stamina. “At that time, we did not think about feats or heroic deeds… We just understood that we had to do our job. We had to protect our country, to protect the peace and tranquillity of our citizens, for which we – the authorities, the military and the people standing next to us – are intended.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasised that he was extremely grateful to these people. He said that after those events he instructed to distinguish the merits of all the people who stood to death on the street, who were injured, including very seriously, but did not retreat.
“Everyone should be found, let them be thousands or thousands of people, they all should be rewarded. Maybe we missed someone or didn’t notice. Anything can happen, life is difficult now. They need to be found – all those who were with us on the barricades, who stood in those August and September days, defending our peaceful life. Even if today they harvest bread on combines, having retired from the ranks of the Armed Forces. We will do it,” the President said.
He noted that, as it always happens, sometimes you don’t notice those who are nearby, it seems that it should be so. “That’s how it should be. Those who are nearby, they go without looking back, following the order. I think it’s time to pay back the debts,” the Head of State added.
Aleksandr Lukashenko presented well-deserved awards to the participants of the ceremony. However, the list of awardees is much longer. There are about a hundred people in the decree signed by the President. High well-deserved awards will be presented to all of them in the very near future, on behalf of the President, by the Prime Minister and State Secretary of the Security Council.
