Belarusians abroad visited the Orshansky district
Representatives of the Belarusian diaspora from 16 countries are visiting our country these days to participate in the tenth meeting of the Consultative Council for the Affairs of Belarusians Abroad under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus.
The council meeting took place on December 9 in Minsk. In the extensive program of events planned until December 12, today was Orsha. This is the first off-site event in the Vitebsk region during the entire time of the Consultative Council's operation. When preparing the program, the starting point was significant sites of historical, cultural, military-patriotic significance, and industrial purpose in the region.
Symbolically, in the year of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, the first stop on the route was the memorial "For our Soviet Motherland!". Guests were welcomed by the chairwoman of the Orsha District Council of Deputies Inna Khomutovskaya. Oksana Solopova, the first deputy chairwoman of the Council of the public organization "Federal National-Cultural Autonomy of Belarusians of Russia", touched the hearts of Belarusians abroad with her speech about events in military history. The author’s lines about the "Katyusha" were read by the head of the public organization "Union of Belarusians of Georgia 'Belarusian Friends'" poet Alexander Zhilyaev.
After laying flowers at the memorial, the guests visited the Square of State Symbols and toured the Orsha Linen Mill, where they were impressed by the scale of production, and then stopped by the Linen House for shopping. The program also included a tour of the Center for Folk Arts and Crafts and the local hospital in the town of Kopyss, where the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko was born.
As the advisor to the main department of multilateral diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alexey Krivalcevich told journalists, such an off-site event will contribute to the preservation of the national-cultural identity of Belarusians abroad, strengthen their emotional connection with their historical homeland, promote the historical and cultural heritage of the Belarusian people, as well as increase awareness of the achievements in the development of the Republic of Belarus at the present stage.
Sergey SLEPTSOV. Photo by the author.