Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko made a series of unexpected historical and ethnic conclusions during the opening of the VIII International Festival of Ethnocultural Traditions “The Call of Polesie“ in Lyaskovichi.
In his official address, the head of state defined Belarusians as “Russians with a quality mark“ and categorically declared the Belarusian region of Polesie the geographical ancestral home of the entire Slavic world.
Roots from Israel, Europe and Kievan Rus
Before the gathered audience, Alexander Lukashenko shared his views on the ethnogenesis of the Belarusian nation, pointing out that it had managed to absorb the best traditions and customs from different parts of the world. According to him, the ancestors of modern Belarusians did not come from the northern territories, but moved along the vectors from the ancient city of Turov to Polotsk [president.gov.by/ru/events/ucastie-v-ceremonii-torzestvennogo-otkrytia-mezdunarodnogo-festivala-etnokul-turnyh-tradicij-zov-poles-a].
„Where did our Belarusians come from? Not only from Israel... They walked from Turov - that's where our roots, springs are - all the way to the Polotsk lands. We should not be ashamed of this, that's how it was. And no politics can turn this history back," the Belarusian president said with a touch of humor in his speech, quoted by the state news agency BELTA [belta.by/president/view/lukashenko-belorusy-nastojaschaja-natsija-vpitavshaja-navyki-traditsii-raznyh-narodov-i-etogo-ne-nado-796238-2026/].
Lukashenko added that Belarusians are "a true nation that has embodied and absorbed the habits and customs of people from Israel, from the East, from Europe, as well as from Kievan Rus up the map" [president.gov.by/ru/events/ucastie-v-ceremonii-torzestvennogo-otkrytia-mezdunarodnogo-festivala-etnokul-turnyh-tradicij-zov-poles-a]. He has already issued an explicit order for these theses to be reflected in detail in the expositions of the new National Museum, which is being built in the center of the capital Minsk [belta.by/president/view/lukashenko-belorusy-nastojaschaja-natsija-vpitavshaja-navyki-traditsii-raznyh-narodov-i-etogo-ne-nado-796238-2026/].
„Russians with a quality mark“
Regarding allied relations with the Russian Federation, the Belarusian president revealed what he tells his colleagues in Moscow and admitted that some of them are somewhat irritated by his words.
„Sometimes I tell Russians: Belarusians are Russians with a quality mark. Sometimes, some of them, even get offended. And I tell them: you can't go against history, why be offended?“, Lukashenko commented [instagram.com/reel/DcErvubB5Ng/].
The head of state emphasized that it was in the Polesie region that the main features of the national character were born – The local people (Poleshuks), in his words, are extremely smart, cunning, hardworking and gifted [belta.by/president/view/lukashenko-belorusy-nastojaschaja-natsija-vpitavshaja-navyki-traditsii-raznyh-narodov-и-etogo-ne-nado-796238-2026/].
Polesie as the cradle of Slavism
Within the framework of the festival, Alexander Lukashenko also discussed in detail the historical significance of the Pripyat river basin. He referred to “the claims of historians“ that the region is the undisputed ancestral homeland of the great Slavic people [unian.net/world/aleksandr-lukashenko-zayavil-chto-belarusy-luchshe-russkih-13471311.html].
Independent historical observers note that the question of the exact location of the ancestral homeland of the Slavs remains highly debated in academic science [news.zerkalo.io/economics/134325.html]. Most international researchers, based on archaeological and linguistic data, place the early Slavic migration centers in a wider area in Central and Eastern Europe – from the Oder River to the Middle Dnieper [udf.name/news/politic/292478-lukashenko-rasskazal-gde-nahoditsja-prarodina-slavjan.html].
The festival “Call of Polesie“ has been held since 2010 with the aim of preserving the region's unique cultural heritage [sb.by/articles/lukashenko-na-festivale-klich-palessya-my-rady-videt-zdes-vsekh-slavyan-i-ne-tolko.html]. According to Lukashenko, the event was originally conceived as a bridge for unification between the three fraternal peoples – Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians [president.gov.by/ru/events/ucastie-v-ceremonii-torzestvennogo-otkrytia-mezdunarodnogo-festivala-etnokul-turnyh-tradicij-zov-poles-a].