This weekend, Chernihiv became the centre of important geopolitical events. The “northern capital” was visited by Zyanon Paznyak, a legendary Belarusian politician, one of the founders of the Belarusian People’s Front “Renaissance”, the head of the Conservative Christian Party – BPF, and a figure of historical significance who has been fighting for the independence of his country since the late 1980s. For Chernihiv, this visit has not only political but also deep personal and historical significance. As it turned out, one of the roots of the politician’s family comes from the Kholmyn community, which is in the north of Chernihiv region. This once again emphasises how closely the destinies of the Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples on our border are intertwined.
Paznyak belongs to a generation of Belarusian politicians who, back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, openly advocated for the restoration of Belarusian independence. In 1994, he ran in the first presidential elections in independent Belarus and received 12.8% of the vote, coming in third place.
In Chernihiv, Paznyak met with Chernihiv City Council member Iryna Solomakha and visited the Belarusian Initiative office. A separate part of the visit was a meeting with the bishop of the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Svyatoslav Login , who is known for having imposed an anathema on Alexander Lukashenko, and volunteer Alena Zharkevich .
Chernihiv volunteer and public figure Oleksandr Yasenchuk, one of those who have been helping the Ukrainian military since the first days of the full-scale invasion, also joined the discussion. Yasenchuk heads the volunteer department of the “LET’S DEFEND UKRAINE” charitable foundation and previously spoke about the transfer of drones, communication equipment, thermal imagers, and other equipment to Ukrainian defenders.
It is the participation of such people that makes the Chernihiv meeting not only a political conversation, but also a practical platform for interaction between Ukrainians and Belarusians who oppose Russian imperial influence.
During the meeting, the discussion focused on continuing work in two key areas — the struggle for the independence of Belarus and support for Belarusian soldiers who are today defending Ukraine as part of the Defence Forces.
Zyanon Paznyak remains a staunch supporter of the idea of a Baltic-Black Sea Union (Ukraine, free Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova), which should become a reliable shield against Russian aggression after the defeat of Moscow and the fall of the Lukashenko dictatorship. At the same time, the politician is skeptical of the European Union, considering it an overly bureaucratized geopolitical entity.
For Chernihiv, this vision has a direct practical dimension:
“A visit by a politician of this scale is undoubtedly an event for Ukraine and Chernihiv in particular,” notes Oleksandr Yasenchuk. “The Ukrainian authorities should pay much more attention to such meetings. The arrangement of the political space of Eastern Europe and our relations with Belarus are a matter of immediate security for our city and the entire country. The father of Ukrainian geopolitics, Yuriy Lypa, wrote: “The key to the Ukrainian Black Sea arch – Belarus is the same for the territorial power of Ukraine as Tavrida (Crimea) is for maritime independence .” Our relations with a free Belarus are a matter of life for Ukraine . ”
Chernihiv once again proves that it is not just a border regional centre, but a strategic platform where the future security architecture of all of Eastern Europe is being formed.
Vitaliy Nazarenko
Інформаційний портал Чернигівщини
