Interview of Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister I.Sekreta for the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung (9 May 2026)

 

The attitude toward the memory of the Second World War in our country is increasingly becoming the subject of political disputes. In an interview with the newspaper Berliner Zeitung, Igor Sekreta, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, levels serious accusations against Germany. The discussion concerns not only diplomatic traditions, but also the interpretation of history, the recognition of suffering, and the future of relations between Germany and Belarus.

Mr. Sekreta, Belarusian diplomats in Germany are increasingly being barred from participating in official commemorative events marking liberation from fascism. What consequences does this division have for our shared understanding of this historic victory?

May 9 is celebrated in our country as Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War. In that war, we lost nearly a third of our population – around 3 million people. It was a genocide unleashed against our people by Hitler’s Germany and its accomplices. Had our fathers and grandfathers not stood firm in that war, we, the Belarusians living today, would not exist.

For several years now, attempts by the German authorities and the management of memorial complexes to prevent Belarusian diplomats from participating in commemorative events connected with liberation from fascism have caused us deep bewilderment and indignation. It is disgraceful. We are denied the opportunity to lay flowers at memorials to the liberators – our grandfathers and great-grandfathers who gave their lives in the struggle against the brown plague of fascism. Yet at the same time, no problem is seen in investing billions in military build-ups and deploying troops near our borders. Where, then, is the repentance?

Could you explain?

We are told that this is supposedly done in order to avoid the political instrumentalization of memory. But in fact, it is precisely the German side that is doing this by artificially linking the memory of the Second World War to the current political situation and using history to serve short-term political ambitions.

These discriminatory approaches are absolutely unacceptable. The actions of the German side are perceived as extremely painful in Belarusian society and inflict irreparable damage on the many years of joint efforts toward reconciliation between our peoples. We do not need invitations or permission to honor with dignity the memory of millions of innocent victims of German concentration camps – children, elderly, and women who were subjected to inhumane experiments, burned in furnaces, and killed with gas. Nor do we need permission to honor those who gave their lives for their liberation. We have done this before and will always continue to do so – with full respect for the laws of the host country.

What mistakes is Germany making now?

The approach of the German authorities is fundamentally wrong and dangerous for the future of Belarus, and above all for Germany and all of Europe. It is precisely the silencing of memory and the distortion of history that lead to the glorification of Nazism and attempts to return to the most unimaginable methods of establishing domination. Today more than ever, initiatives and practical steps aimed at restoring trust are urgently needed. I am deeply convinced that the memory of the tragedy of the Second World War should unite us with the Germans, not divide us.

And we are not the only ones who think so. This is evidenced by the numerous messages sent to our Embassy in Berlin, in which German citizens expressed sincere support for the Belarusian side. Incidentally, your newspaper wrote about this on April 19 of last year. We are grateful to all Germans who were not indifferent to the politician’s clumsy attempt to tear apart our shared memory.

What significance does the victory over Nazism hold for contemporary politics and society in Belarus?

For us, preserving the historical memory of the heroic past of our people and of all the peoples of the former Soviet Union is a central task of the state. We regard this legacy as an inseparable part of our national idea, as the unifying foundation of society. After all, the basis of our independence and sovereignty, and the preservation of our national identity and our people, was laid precisely at the time when our heroic ancestors prevented the realization of plans to create “living space” for the German nation and to exterminate the majority of the Belarusian population.

The memory of the tragedy of the war forms the foundation of our peace-loving foreign policy and our constructive domestic policy aimed at the evolutionary development of the state. The updated Constitution of the Republic of Belarus clearly states: “The state shall ensure the preservation of historical truth and the memory of the heroic feat of the Belarusian people.” Memory and patriotism are the duty of every citizen.

Even in the Baltic countries and in Ukraine, where ruling circles are doing everything possible to eliminate “Soviet” narratives, where military graves and monuments to heroes are cynically destroyed, millions of people there still preserve the memory of the war and of those who saved the world from fascism. After all, a significant number of Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, and Ukrainians did not support the ideas of National Socialism in 1941. Very many representatives of these nationalities fought against fascism on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War and in the rear, supported the partisan movement and underground resistance. However, the current state ideology in these countries is increasingly relying on descendants of SS veterans, who glorify their ancestors as “liberators from communism.”

In German remembrance culture, the victims of the Soviet Union are often perceived as a kind of “single bloc.” Which specific aspects – for example, the fate of thousands of destroyed villages – remain insufficiently acknowledged?

We do not divide victims and heroes by nationality; victory was achieved through the joint efforts of all the peoples of the USSR and the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. Nevertheless, we will not forget the suffering endured by the Belarusian people.

The Nazis and their collaborators carried out a deliberate policy of exterminating civilians on our land: mass killings, punitive operations, and medical experiments on women and children. Hundreds of thousands of young people were deported into slavery, including my grandmother’s 15-year-old sister, who miraculously survived. Cultural treasures were systematically looted and taken away.

The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic suffered from the occupation more than any other part of the Soviet Union. On the occupied territory there were 578 death camps and more than 70 ghettos. In the Trostenets death camp alone, more than half a million people perished, including Jews who were brought there specifically from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. More than 800,000 Belarusian Jews became victims of the Holocaust. People of other nationalities, at enormous risk to their own lives, rescued Jews from certain death – more than 700 such citizens were awarded the title “Righteous Among the Nations” for their courage.

According to updated data, nearly 13,000 settlements were completely or partially burned down. Of these, at least 290 were burned together with all their inhabitants and were never rebuilt – the symbol of such villages is Khatyn, near Minsk. A unique memorial complex has been created on the site of the destroyed village, and every German should visit it.

Other places of horror include Krasny Bereg, where children were drained of blood for German soldiers, and Ozarichi, where about 20,000 people died from typhus and starvation within ten days in a swamp area. According to experts, if not for the war and occupation, Belarus today would have a population of at least 18 million instead of 9 million. Just think about the scale of this tragedy. We are grateful to those Germans who honor this memory together with us. Only in this way can we resist attempts to revise and erase the pages of history.

Belarus is currently conducting an active investigation into the genocide of the Belarusian people. What does Minsk expect from this legal review, and how would you assess cooperation with Germany’s judicial authorities?

For us, the crimes committed by the Nazis have no statute of limitations; this issue was not closed even by the verdicts of the Nuremberg Tribunal. Even more than 80 years after the end of the war, we still do not possess the full picture and do not know many of the names of either the victims or the perpetrators. Therefore, for the past five years, the Prosecutor General’s Office has been actively investigating the criminal case concerning genocide. During the investigation, new eyewitness testimonies have been obtained, previously unknown mass burial sites have been discovered, and destroyed villages have been identified.

By adopting the Law “On Preventing the Rehabilitation of Nazism” in 2021 and the Law “On the Genocide of the Belarusian People” in 2022, we created the legal foundation for investigating, on an unprecedented scale, the genocide of the civilian population. The scale of extermination turned out to be far greater than had been acknowledged during the Soviet period.

Could you elaborate?

So far, six guilty verdicts have been handed down, and nearly 140 requests for legal assistance have been sent to 33 countries. Unfortunately, not all states are willing to cooperate, citing various political obstacles. The fact that Nazi collaborators today are sometimes even honored in foreign parliaments – as demonstrated by the case of the Ukrainian SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka in 2023, who received a standing ovation in the Canadian Parliament in the presence of Volodymyr Zelenskyy – is a horrifying signal. Such events are an insult to the victims of fascism.

As part of the investigation, we cooperate selectively with our German colleagues and are grateful for the information provided. But our work is still far from complete. We are watching with concern as revanchism is re-emerging in a number of Western countries, including Germany. The treatment of the memory of the victims must not become hostage to political expediency. This makes our investigation not merely a legal undertaking, but a civilizational project aimed at preserving the truth.

In German schools, the war is often taught in abstract terms, while in Belarus it plays an important role in shaping national identity. Is there a risk that, because of these differing perspectives, young people in the East and West will no longer be able to find common ground?

It depends on us whether future generations will live in harmony or drift further apart. The recipe for mutual understanding is simple – first of all, we must stop arbitrarily closing borders and artificially reducing contacts between young people. The current policy of sanctions and restrictions is the complete opposite of what is needed for a shared future.

While Europe is erecting a new “Iron Curtain,” Belarus is moving in the opposite direction: our country has introduced a visa-free regime for citizens of 38 European countries, including Germany. Germans can now visit us without a visa, whether they arrive by car, bus, or by air through third countries, since direct flights have been blocked due to EU sanctions.

However, relations are still not so simple…

From Berlin and Brussels, we see no reciprocity whatsoever. On the contrary, the EU is systematically making entry more difficult for our citizens. Anyone applying for a German visa in Minsk today ends up in a bureaucratic dead end. The waiting period at the embassy currently exceeds one year.

Alienation occurs when history is interpreted contrary to the facts in order to serve political interests. A telling example was the conference held at the Berlin-Karlshorst Museum at the end of March entitled “Foreign Memory – Our Own Responsibility. Soviet Memorials and German Memory Culture.” Behind closed doors, experts discussed the “reinterpretation” of Soviet war memorials. Representatives of Belarus and Russia were not invited under the pretext of the event’s “confidentiality.” Discussing our memorials without us clearly does not contribute to strengthening mutual trust.

Critics accuse the government in Minsk of using the events of 1945 as a “moral shield” for its current policies. Where, in your view, is the line between respect for memory and political instrumentalization?

Let these accusations remain on the conscience of their authors. Remembering one’s past, one’s heroes, and what they did for the Belarusian and other peoples does not mean politicizing or instrumentalizing history. It is far more dangerous to forget history or attempt to rewrite it in accordance with certain opportunistic ambitions.
We consistently defend the preservation of historical truth. We oppose attempts to revise the results of the Second World War in favor of the defeated. We firmly reject any efforts by pseudo-historians and political actors to equate victims with executioners, liberators with aggressors. Where is the politicization in that?

How would you characterize the current state of German–Belarusian relations overall?

Belarusian–German relations are at an unprecedented low point. Political dialogue has been frozen at the initiative of the German side; economic ties are constrained by the threat of sanctions. In addition, Germany has terminated all contacts in educational, scientific, cultural, and other spheres that are distant from politics.
This situation is not our choice. It is the result of unilateral destructive steps by Berlin and Brussels, a deliberate course toward confrontation combined with the imposition of questionable “values” and interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.

Today we are standing on the ruins of what had been built for decades by diplomats, businesspeople, and civil society structures. Current interaction, at Berlin’s initiative, is very limited and does not correspond to the potential of the two countries or the interests of their citizens.

The refusal of Brussels and Berlin to engage in dialogue with Minsk does not bring them closer to their own goals. On the contrary, it causes increasing damage year by year, inevitably driving our countries and peoples further apart.

A recent example: the German diplomatic mission in Minsk explicitly recommends on its website that its citizens avoid traveling to Belarus. In such cases, comments are unnecessary. Yet those who are used to forming their own opinions and assessing the situation realistically still do come.

We are observing a “communication ice age.” Why does the German public today know less about Belarus than during the Cold War?

You are right: apart from those who have visited our country, Germans know little about the real situation in Belarus. In the German media, stereotypes and biased assessments by “experts” prevail – people who hardly know our country or left it long ago. One gets the impression that such inaccuracies are introduced deliberately in order to cultivate an image of an enemy. Think about it – for what purpose?

When was the last time you encountered the position of an official representative of Belarus in major German media? In recent years, this has practically not happened. At the same time, we remain open to dialogue. We hope that other media outlets will follow the example of Berliner Zeitung and dare to show the truth about Belarus – this terra incognita in the heart of Europe.

Are there really no remaining ties between Germany and Belarus, even at the level of civic initiatives?

Despite the restrictive sanctions policy of the EU, direct people-to-people contacts remain a strong foundation. Activists in both countries maintain ties through town-twinning movements and humanitarian cooperation. More than 20 pairs of Belarusian and German cities are linked by partnership relations. We do not forget that thousands of Germans took part in providing assistance after the Chernobyl disaster. These human connections persist, and constructive dialogue serves the interests of our peoples.

We use all available means to directly address the German public and alternative media. I am convinced that, in the end, common sense and good-neighbourliness will prevail in European capitals.

Considering Germany’s historical responsibility: what diplomatic steps would you like to see from Berlin in order to bring relations out of the current deadlock of blockade and isolation?

Let us be honest: Belarus, as the country that suffered the most from the Nazi occupation during the Great Patriotic War, had to wait a long time for Germany’s official apologies. The visit to Minsk in 2018 by the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to take part in the opening of the “Maly Trostenets” memorial complex was of great importance. We appreciated this historic step; I took part in preparing this event and accompanied the participants.

But this is symbolism. What is needed are concrete measures that would confirm this historical responsibility – if not responsibility, then at least remembrance. And the historical debt to the Belarusian people determines that Germany, in particular, should invest more in returning relations to a normal course. Only through joint efforts can we find a way out of the deadlock in which Belarusian–German relations have found themselves due to sanctions policy. It is important to prevent further estrangement between our peoples. The experience of the Second World War dictates the need to do everything so that future generations do not have to experience a new confrontation. We would like German diplomacy to play a consolidating, rather than confrontational, role in restoring relations. At the moment, it is simply not visible – not at all.

Belarus is open to the resumption of a respectful dialogue with Germany, which would allow us to begin untangling problematic issues not only in bilateral relations, but also in relations with the European Union as a whole. Germany’s historical responsibility toward Belarus places special obligations on Berlin.

Let me remind you that on 3 October 2025, the President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, congratulated the German people on the Day of German Unity: “The unification of Germany in 1990 was one of the most important events in the history of modern Europe. Despite the tragic consequences of the Second World War, Belarusians and Germans found ways to reconciliation. That experience is relevant today; its results should be preserved. It is necessary to wisely take steps toward each other. We propose removing barriers in order to restore relations. This will not be easy, but it fully corresponds to the true interests of our countries and peoples.”

Let us treat these words with full seriousness.

Interview conducted by journalist Eva Peli.