Sovereignty getting stronger

In his talk to Alfa Radio, Vadim Gigin – the Dean of the Philosophy and Social Sciences Faculty at the Belarusian State University, a Candidate of Historical Sciences and a political scientist – shared his view on Belarus’ strength

“The independence and sovereignty of Belarus is stronger when the Republic is closer to the Russian Federation. There have often been attempts to convince us that integration with Russia will result in the loss of all of the above-mentioned. It’s not true. A real loss of independence is integration with the European Union,” the expert said.

Mr. Gigin added that integration with Europe will lead not only to the curtailing of independence but also the loss of Belarus’ identity, “500-600 years ago, in exchange for the gentry liberties of the Rzech Pospolita, our gentry betrayed its identity – ceasing to be Belarusian or, as it was then called, Lithuanian. Integration with the collective West is exactly the same. If someone is willing to pay such a price, they are welcome. However, the majority of Belarusians have no wish to act in this way,” he stressed.

Mr. Gigin noted that integration of Belarus with Russia does not make our country weaker, “We have been integrating with Russia for over 25 years. Have Belarus’ independence and sovereignty suffered as a result? No. Moreover, they’ve become even stronger. The past year of our joint struggle can confirm this. The Russian Federation, despite all the existing contradictions, was here to help us. We are very much grateful to it. At the same time, our Republic has repeatedly helped Russia in difficult times and will continue to do so.”

The political scientist added that Belarusian and Russian experts are now working to prepare a single database of extremist resources that will help our countries to be strong in information warfare.