It’s bee a while since my last post, but this one is too good to pass. The Belorussian Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted an official humorous response to a meddling “congratulation” from the US State Department.
The complete text in Russian can be found here: Комментарий пресс-службы МИД в связи с заявлением Посольства США от 25 марта 2021 года
While the English version is here: Comment by the Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus in connection with the statement of the US Embassy on March 25, 2021
RT wrote a piece about this response, titled:
And this is indeed a level 100 trolling on the Belorussian part. I take my proverbial hat off! Below is the complete official text of the response, followed by my re-translation of the American “congratulation”, which triggered it:
Comment by the Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus in connection with the statement of the US Embassy on March 25, 2021
In connection with the statement of the US Embassy on March 25, 2021, we express our sincere gratitude to the American side for finally showing their willingness to transfer bilateral rhetoric into a constructive channel and for congratulations on a significant date in the history of our country. We will only welcome the spread of this practice on public holidays as well.
We acknowledge our mistake and avail ourselves of this opportunity to apologize for the lack of congratulations on the recent 160th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, whose flag is still dear to many Americans. At the same time, the BLM movement throughout the country has tens of millions of members.
Unfortunately, today the American society is deeply divided, as J. Biden states: “My whole soul is in this. Bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation … I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real … let’s start afresh, all of us. Let’s begin to listen to one another again, hear one another, see one another… “
We also support the aspirations of the American people for a better future – on this day and every day! Therefore, we believe that only genuine inclusive dialogue will help the American nation to unite at this difficult moment in history. As a disinterested gesture of goodwill, Belarus, having experience as a platform for negotiations within the TCG, is ready to offer its services in organizing such a process. We will provide any assistance we can, including with the engagement of our partners from integration structures.
Although more than two centuries have passed since independence, recent events in the United States show that the Americans’ struggle for freedom persists. Currently, hundreds of thousands of Americans of all ages are standing up for the right to determine the destiny of their country. In attempting to have their voices heard, many pay a heavy price as the administration resorts to lethal force to shoot several people to maintain its grip on power and to fix the election results.
We admire the courage and determination of American heroes, including J.Assange, E.Snowden and Ch.Manning, who sacrificed almost everything for the sake of true freedom and harmony in American society.
Belarus, together with the American people, is looking forward to the day when an ordinary American will be able to walk near the Capitol without let or hindrance.
We are grateful to the appointed US Ambassador to Belarus Mrs. J.Fisher for her invaluable advice to the entire Belarusian people when and how we need to hold elections. Of course, our Belarusian primitive and scant thinking would never fulfill itself to solve this issue. As a sign of exceptional gratitude, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is ready to accept Her Excellency’s application for Belarusian citizenship out of turn in order to include her in the list of voters and give her the opportunity to vote. The same can be done without citizenship on any electronic platform, avowed by Mrs. J.Fisher.
We cannot ignore Americas’ helping hand in conducting the elections. Such achievements of the American electoral system as voting by mail and the electoral college, instead of a direct expression of will, can be demanded and studied by the Belarusian side.
Being deeply inspired by the US’ attention to the fate of Belarus, as a response, we can make a disinterested contribution to the development of agriculture in Alaska and the effective development of its lands. In this regard, we are ready to consider the possibility of joint management of this territory.
We could deploy the Belarusian construction organizations located in the region to transfer experience and help residents of the southern states in overcoming the consequences of the natural disaster.
We sincerely wish the American people unity, and to climb the stairs of the American Dream without stumbling.
We hope that the positive trend in our relations will continue and we will jointly come to the moment when we can happily meet the US Sixth Fleet at the maritime borders of Belarus.
Source: https://www.mfa.gov.by/en/press/news_mfa/cca2780f9c6cb842.html © When using the site materials reference to the source is required.
And here is what triggered this response. An insolent address by the US Embassy (read: State Department):
The flag used by the Nazi collaboration regime in Belarus during WWII.
The Embassy of the United States of America congratulates all Belarusians on the 103rd anniversary of the proclamation of the Belarusian People’s Republic in 1918. Although more than a century has passed since the first declaration of statehood, recent events show that the struggle of Belarusians for freedom and democracy continues. Currently, thousands of Belarusians of all ages publicly demand the right to determine the fate of their country. Many pay a high price for trying to make their voices heard, as the regime resorts to intimidation, violence and the use of deadly weapons to stay in power.
Since 1991, the US Congress and every presidential administration have consistently supported the sovereignty of an independent Belarus. The 2004 Law on Democracy in Belarus and several updated versions of this law since then support democracy, human rights, independent media and civil society, and aim to prevent corruption and encroachments on democratic and human rights institutions. The Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020 signals that U.S. commitments remain as relevant today as they were in 2004.
The United States congratulates the Belarusian people on March 25 and looks forward to the day when the Belarusian people can determine their future.
To wrap it up with two paragraphs from the RT article:
The catch? The country proclaimed on March 25, 1918 amounted to a puppet regime of Imperial Germany and ceased to exist the following year, after the Kaiser’s capitulation, its territory partitioned between Poland and the newly established Soviet Union. A “government in exile” has existed ever since – currently residing in Canada – while the flag used by the BPR was adopted last year by activists opposed to President Alexander Lukashenko.
…
However, while the Chinese rhetoric remained – however barely – within the confines of diplomatic discourse, the missive from Minsk resembled the famous Cossack letter to the Ottoman sultan, the composition of which was immortalized in a painting by Ilya Repin.
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LOL thumbs up!
Thank you Stanislav for taking the time and effort to translate and expand on this post. The arrogance and overbearing behavior and attitude of the US is completely obnoxious and embarrassing. For so long the US has gotten away with the charade, but I believe that is shifting and the rest of the world is seeing the truth. Thanks again for your efforts in exposing the truth.
Just a quick note that I have since replaced my initial translation of the Belorussian missive with the official English text from the Ministry’s site.
Sorry if this is off-topic..but a question: How long has the idea of a nation of Belarussian people, separate to Russian people, actually existed?
Thank you
Not for very long, and shorter, than the idea of a separate Ukraine. Before the 1917 revolution, the territory was know as the Minsk County. On an older French map dated around 1680 the territory covered by present-day Belorussia, central Ukraine and Russia west for Urals was designated as “Moscovie” with it stretching up to the North to the sea labelled as “Mer de Moscovie” (present-day Barents Sea). On an Italian map from the same time the territory is labelled “Russia Bianca / Moscovia” designating the same land. The term “Belorussia” itself has two possible origins: one is part of Moscovie not under the Tatar yoke, and the other stemming from the colour of the traditional clothes.
Lenin split off several territories/counties of Russia, including that of Belorussia. The nationalist idea was peddled there in the few years after the revolution, fuelled by the German/Polish and Lithuanian interests and in the time of a general turmoil and search for identity in an overall chaos. That idea did not take root, but when the land came under the German occupation during WWII, collaborators and the German command continued where the post revolution turmoil left off, adopting the Polish red-white colours and building national symbols.
Ironically, the strongest indoctrination of “another Russia” separate from Russia came about in 1992 after the unconstitutional disintegration of the USSR. For a short time the white-red collaborationist colours were used, but unlike in the Ukraine, this saw a popular push-back in Belorussia, so they reverted to the Soviet-time red-green republican flag. But at the same time, Minsk saw a renaming of one of its principal boulevards into an “Independence Prospect”, as was customary in the other republics during that time of trouble. Another irony is that it was Lukashenko who did the most to push forth the idea of the separate nation, as a means to strengthen his own political position. 25 years later, a new generation has grown on these ideas, both dissatisfied with Lukashenko, and at the same time distanced from their Russian roots by Lukashenko’s efforts.
So, to answer you, the idea surfaced during the troubled times, but it was only after 1992 that the idea of separate nation was implemented in earnest. Before that it was aired as a potential tool for the partitioning of Russia. This is just a tip of the iceberg. the same dynamics existed after 1992 within the present-day Russia as well, and if Yeltsin’s regime stayed in power for a few more years, you’s now see a separate national state of Moscow, a different nationality, called Peterbugians, there’d be Uralians (Ural banknotes were already printed and prepared for use in a split off state!) and Rostovians, you get the idea, where this was heading…