Freedom Day (Belarus)

Freedom Day (Belarusian: Дзень Волі, Dzen Voli) is an unofficial holiday in Belarus, which is celebrated on March 25 to commemorate the declaration of independence by the Belarusian Democratic Republic on that date in 1918. It is also known as the 25-aha sakavika day.

Freedom Day celebration rally held by the Belarusian opposition in 2007

Freedom Day
Freedom Day demonstration in front of the National Opera and Ballet of Belarus building in Minsk in 2018
Official nameДзень Волі
Observed by Belarus, Belarusian diaspora
DateMarch 25
Frequencyannual
Related toDeclaration of independence by the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918

The day has been celebrated as the Independence Day of Belarus by the Belarusian independence movement since the early 1920s. The day has been widely celebrated by the Belarusian diaspora.

In the United States, governors and US presidents, including Dwight Eisenhower Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, have traditionally issued official greetings to the Belarusian American community on the occasion of March 25.[1][2]

In the Lukashenko's Belarus, people and groups largely opposed to the current Belarusian government under president Alexander Lukashenko celebrate the holiday. The government does not recognize it for the stated reason that the Belarusian Democratic Republic was created by the Germans, who were occupying Belarus in 1918. Celebrations of the holiday are an annual occasion for anti-government protests.

In 2020 Belarusian musician Zmitser Vajtsjushkevich created a song commemorated to the day and named as 25aha sakavika.

See also

References
  1. BELARUSIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY IN NEW YORK – PROCLAMATION BY MAYOR RUDI GIULIANI
  2. ANNIVERSARY OF THE BELARUSIAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC – GREETING FROM US PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, 1995
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