On August 9, on the second anniversary of the start of peaceful mass protests in Belarus that erupted after the 2020 presidential election, Belarusians in the Tricity (an agglomeration in northern Poland, including Gdansk, Sopot, Gdynia and several small towns. – Red.) participated in the March for Dignity in Gdansk. It started in the historic part of the city, at the Netpun fountain – this is a traditional place for solidarity actions with Belarus.

Here, the participants unfurled a multi-meter white-red-white flag, you could also see flags with the names of Minsk districts, posters with protest slogans. Then a column of several hundred people went to the European Solidarity Center, where a rally was held, at which Belarusian activists, as well as the mayors of Gdansk and Sopot, spoke. DW spoke with participants of the March for Dignity.

“Most Belarusians did not leave willingly”

“I am happy that people, despite being a working day, came and expressed their support for Belarusians. This gives hope for a better fate for our country,” one of the organizers of the march, a representative of the Belarusian Cultural Society, said in an interview. to DW “Hatka” Vladimir Mazur.

According to him, now more than 6,000 Belarusians have settled in the agglomeration, who have a residence permit in Poland. In addition, adds Mazur, there are Belarusians who have entered Poland on a visa and those who have already received Polish citizenship.

“Most of them did not leave Belarus of their own volition. But it seems to me that here we can do a little more than stay in prison”, believes the interlocutor. He himself has lived in Poland for ten years, he was one of the founders of the “Hatka” society, which used to promote the Belarusian language and culture, but after 2020, among other things, he supports political refugees from Belarus.

“Minsk commander OMON invaded my backyard”

“Many Belarusians come to Tricity every week with their ideas, aspirations, desire to speak, they join our movement,” says Roman, one of the Belarusian diaspora activists in Gdansk. He has been in Poland since November 2020. In Minsk, Roman lived in a courtyard that local protesters called the Neighborhood of Truth. Geographically, it is located close to the famous Praça das Movimentos.

Two years ago, peaceful protest in Belarus had no chance, say some of its participants

“Because of the persecution in our area, and Minsk OMON commander Dmitry Balaba also organized raids in our backyard, my three-year-old son began to have psychological problems. We decided to leave,” recalls the caller. Speaking about the events of the 2020 protests, Roman notes that the past two years and the war in Ukraine have shown that there was no chance of peaceful protest in Belarus. However, according to him, Belarusians continue to fight.

“My vote is my right!”

“Recently, my husband and I discussed whether we would change anything in our actions if we could go back to 2020. I realized I wouldn’t change anything. I said from the beginning that I wasn’t ready to go to the barricades. I did everything I could. Maybe somewhere it was worth a little push, but the most important thing is that we all became better than we were two years ago”, explains one of the participants of the march.

Belarusians forced to leave the country want to bring democratic changes closer to their homeland

She came to the action wearing a T-shirt that read “My vote is my right! Count honestly.” According to the interlocutor, she went to the polling station in Grodno on August 9, 2020. The woman was forced to leave Belarus in late 2021 after security forces searched her home, confiscated her phones and computer.

Georgy is also wearing a commemorative shirt with the Chase coat of arms, which on August 9 he swam across the river hiding from riot police. “At first, an OMON minibus entered the crowd, knocked someone over, we fled. People were beaten, there are many memories, although not very good”, the man does not hide his emotions.

He moved to Gdansk in September 2020 after a visit by the security forces: “They made a search, they made it clear that if I didn’t stop my activities, I would be in prison for a long time, I would have to leave. can’t go back. My mother was buried without me, I couldn’t come. She died of a coronavirus that Lukashenka doesn’t recognize.”

“Only two people voted for Lukashenka at the polling station”

“I am a member of the expanded composition of the Coordinating Council of the Belarusian opposition, I was an observer of the Honest People initiative, I went to all the protest marches. I stayed in Belarus until February 2021, until there were direct threats, until I realized that, literally, tomorrow they could come after me. I went first to Warsaw, then under the Kalinowski program, which provides education in Poland, I entered the university in Gdansk”, Anna shares her story.

She told DW what was happening at the polling station where she tried to observe the vote two years ago: “We were kicked out of the polling station in the morning, we – almost all in white – were sitting on folding benches counting people. in Lukashenka, they came to us and said they were “for the father”. At night, people were waiting for the results, they were not announced immediately. After the electoral commission was withdrawn by the police. Lukashenka won in our assembly of vote, people were very dissatisfied.”

Now, the interlocutor admits that she feels depressed because the situation in Belarus has not improved and, in addition, the girl is worried about her family and friends who have remained at home.

Anton was also an observer in the presidential elections: “People went to the polls all day, stood in line, and in the end, they just didn’t follow protocol.” He admits that he arrived at the Dignity March in Gdansk with pride: “For the fact that we cheered up for two years and didn’t forget about it. On the other hand, it’s sad that we can’t march in Belarus.”