The key facts

  • Lukashenko called himself an opponent of revolutions and referred to his profession as a historian
  • At the same time, he acknowledged that the October Revolution gave the country a chance for independence
  • November 7 remains a state holiday in Belarus — the Day of the October Revolution

Statement made at a meeting with residents

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, during a meeting with residents of the agro-town Govyady in the Mogilev region, said that he does not support revolutions. His words were cited by the BelTA news agency, and a report on this was published by Gazeta.Ru. «The limit on revolutions ran out long ago. I am not a supporter of revolution, and as a historian, I do not want this to happen again in our country,» BelTA quoted the Belarusian leader as saying.

Assessment of the October Revolution

At the same time, Lukashenko noted that as a result of the October Revolution the country received a chance for independence. According to BelTA, November 7 has been preserved in Belarus as a holiday — the Day of the October Revolution — because many members of the older generation, for whom this date is important, are still alive.

Context of other recent statements

The statement came against the backdrop of other public remarks by Lukashenko that Russian outlets cited: on October 27 he proposed reviving the Soviet system of supply, under which Belarus would supply goods to Russian regions — Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg, the Moscow region and partly Moscow — and earlier he called for more actively involving women in resolving issues of peace. What these statements have in common is an appeal to the Soviet legacy, but each was made in a separate speech and concerned different topics.