Written by Maksim Medvedev, Kalegium. Pinsk

"…THEIR VISITS TO BELARUS GIVE US STRONG MORAL SUPPORT. WE DON'T FEEL LONELY IN THIS WORLD"

In 1988 being a seventeen year old fellow, standing on the deck of the soviet motor ship and looking at the tops of the beautiful as if coming from a fairy-tale northern mountains, I did not think that country would come so closely into my life and I would find so many friends there.
Sweden was the first foreign country I visited. For me it seemed to be mysterious. I had an impression that I was on another planet. Neither me nor any other people from my country could ever imagine that we would face a completely different life in the country situated only a hundred miles from ours. We were brought up behind the "iron curtain" we were learning about the outer world from the soviet newspapers full of lies and stereotypes. We were brain - washed and imposed negative opinion about anything, which differed from soviet life styles. And people from the outer world also had stereotypic ideas about us. For us Sweden was associated with hockey, Carlsson, "anomalous families". For Swedes Belarus was regarded to be a province of the Soviet empire with wild bears, balalaikas, beeswax and hemp.
  But the wind of changes started to blow. Now we have a possibility to travel, to learn the world, to communicate with people. Internet is slowly coming into our life. And at the junction of centuries and millenniums we face a new Swedish "invasion". Belarus has not been visited by so many citizens of this northern country since the times of Carl XII. Numerous Swedish parties, NGOs, foundations representatives as well as private persons visit Belarus. What makes these people leave their "ecologically clean" country and comfortable apartments for our country, full of problems? A lot of Belarusians ask: "Do they really need it? Isn't it easier to live quietly and not to think about others' problems? What kind of interest do they see here? In which way can they help us?" I tried to learn the opinions of simple Belarusians and the NGOs activists about Swedes.

Oksana Dubnovitsakaya, children's doctor.
- Before I came across Swedes I imagined them to be bearded bellicose vikings or blond-haired people in sport jackets. I didn't see any difference between Swedes or Norwegians, Finnish or Danes - for me they were simply Scandinavians. I knew that they haven't been at war for centuries, that they are always neutral, but I didn't have the slightest idea about the Swedish literature, music, art. My opinion about Sweden changed a lot after I got acquainted with some Swedish people. Instead of being reserved and stern (as I imagined them) they turned out to be open and friendly.
During my first visit to Stockholm I felt awkward. I asked myself why but couldn't find an answer. Only in a couple of days I understood - the faces of people were happy and open. And I have never seen so many open faces before. I wasn't used to this. This is also an answer to the question "Why do they come to Belarus?". These happy and free people want to share their achievements with us… But I regret much that a lot of Belarusians don't understand this and still consider Swedes and other foreigners to be their enemies. Nothing to do about these stereotypes…

… but not all Belarusians think like Oksana. Some people from our country (not only the old generation, but also youth) really think that foreigners are trying to impose on us their values (quite alien from the point of view of people, upbrought by the soviet system), and their way of life. Fear is being passed from generation to generation.

Aleksandr Puz, jobless musician.
- I don't believe they are sincere! A man is such a creature, which is always searching for profit. It means Swedes need something here. But I can't understand what! Perhaps, a person, having reached some footing in society, becomes kind and generous. But as far as I am jobless, I have to think how to survive. I don't think I would be doing the same as Swedes. Maybe they have some geopolitical interests. Perhaps, they want to decrease the influence of Russia in this region. But it seems to me they are afraid of one more Iraq close to their borders.

Raisa Pashkovets, seller of newspapers
- I think foreigners want to impose their traditions and religion on us. But all this is alien to us, orthodox people. They want to implant capitalism here, to divide the society into rich and poor, to make slaves of us. I don't agree with this. I approve of Lukashenko's policy. He takes care of simple people. We don't need any Swedes here! I even don't know where Sweden is situated.

Usually the lack of information makes people aggressive and angry. As I noticed, people, having some experience of cooperation with Swedes, have completely different opinions. Such people mention positive features of Swedish character, introduce new ideas, suggest new form of cooperation.

Aleksey Dikovitskiy, Belarusian Helsinki Committee
- Swedes are doing a lot of useful things for our country. It seems to me they have all the possibilities to do even more.
Firstly, they can share their social-democratic experience with us. Socially oriented model of society development fits our society and we have to learn much from Sweden in this sphere.
Secondly, Swedes are experienced in party building, in organizing of youth movements, NGOs. These are the spheres of political life we have to pay much attention to.
Thirdly, as a future Head of European Union Sweden will be able to raise questions concerning human rights in Belarus on international arena. It seems to me it is necessary to continue increasing international pressure on both Belarusian and Russian regime. The situation in our country depends a lot on the position of Russia. Swedes often visit Belarus, they are aware of the situation with human rights and freedom of expression in our country. So on the one hand they have to pay more attention to contacts with reasonable politicians, constructive popular movements, but on the other - to increase the international isolation of Belarusian regime. It could be very good Swedes come to Belarus as often as possible. And if there is a possibility for Belarusian children and teen-agers to visit Sweden - this could be just great. It is very difficult to change the mode of thinking of the older generation, but children absorb like sponge the spirit of freedom and democracy. So they can learn a lot of good things in Sweden.

Nadya Avsievich, the chairperson of NGO Kalegium
- I hadn't had the slightest idea about Swedes and foreigners in general before I met the Swedish photographer and journalist Maria Soderberg. My first visit to Stockholm (it was 3 years ago) changed a lot in my life. I noticed that Swedish people looked at the world with widely open eyes, they were very eager to learn new things, laughed a lot and enjoyed life. I was asked many questions and understood that in Sweden even after the collapse of the USSR our country was associated with Russia. I didn't have an opportunity to communicate with working class people: workers, farmers, miners. I got acquainted and made friends with journalists, writers, artists, NGOs activists. And if all Swedes are so nice and kind, Sweden must be very lucky and proud of its citizens. A typical Swedish feature - people don't just promise promises - they do things. I can give a lot of examples of cooperation with Swedish organizations. For instance, simple Swedish people founded the Association for the Support of Kalegium in Belarus in order to support the public initiatives in Pinsk.
Of course I should mention Maria Soderberg. This woman (she doesn't occupy any political post) organizes different political actions to form the public opinion concerning the Belarusian regime both in Sweden and abroad. One of such actions was her photo collage Picnic exhibited in Belarusian National Museum in Minsk. The characters of it were the relatives of the victims of political repressions in Belarus. This is a proof that one person can do a lot. To my mind, such methods and forms of cooperation are the most effective.
I don't see any Swedish geopolitical interests in Belarus. People simply want to share their democratic experience with us. Sweden wants to have Belarus as a well-to-do, reliable and a predictable neighbour.

Some Belarusians don't believe in effectiveness of foreign support. They think it is organized in the wrong way and doesn't give any vivid result.

Nikolay Chibisov, Belarusian Narodny Front activist
- I don't know much about Sweden. I have come across Swedes a couple of times but I have never cooperated with them. Have I ever asked myself what they want in Belarus? They have neither any key factors of international influence nor mechanisms to exercise pressure on anyone on the international arena. And in general they are neutral in the world politics. Yes, Sweden is a member of the European Parliament. But as far as I know the decision in this organization is taken by 100% of votes. All their appeals and collecting signatures in order to support us don't bother Lukashenko so much. He has Moscow and all imperialist Russia behind him.
  Well, they grant Belarusian organizations some small sums to support some projects. But a lot of countries do such things. And they are so generous because the money comes from the state budget, but not from pockets of private citizens. All these grants coming from foreign foundations spoil our NGOs, got used to suck money from Sweden. Foreigners work in Belarus in accordance with their ideas about democracy and people's decency. And we, former soviet citizens, have a completely different mode of thinking. That is why foreign methods of work are not effective. Swedes organize a lot of projects, seminars, trainings, conferences, but yawning Belarusians just wait for a lunch break. A great number of unnecessary bulletins and brochures is published for foreign money in Belarus. No one reads them. And then much is told about "the use of cooperation and further development of it". All this is good for nothing, needed by no one.

Anna Grinko, the teacher of primary school
- All foreigners have a number of mercenary interests in Belarus: to develop democracy and market reforms in order to increase space for their business, investments and selling goods. Also they want to improve our life here to decrease immigration to their countries.
  I don't know why but many Belarusian people would like to immigrate to Sweden. But of course, what concerns increasing of the sphere of influence, Sweden can't compete with Germany, Great Britain or USA. If Swedes don't know what to spend their money on - they can give it to me for instance…

Vladimir Tuchinskiy, the bus driver
- All the time we hope that someone who knows all the answers would come and teach us how to live in the right way. But we should count only on ourselves. Neither million dollar nor visits of Swedes to our country will prevent Belarusians from being passive and timorous. Any foreign support is useless until Belarusians themselves will realize that changes in their own country are necessary. Of course we shouldn't reject this support. But we should receive foreign support mainly in the spheres where we can't manage ourselves. For example, it concerns the grave consequences of Chernobyl catastrophe.

Leaders and activists of NGOs, simple people, which have visited Sweden, mention great achievements of this country in different spheres: economy, politics, freedom of expression and gender equality.

Miroslav Kobasa, Lev Sapieha Foundation
- Our foundation has a three years experience of cooperation with Swedish organizations. I must say it is very fruitful. Our joint projects concerned the development of institutions of local government in Belarus, female and youth leadership. Together with our Swedish partners we made some interesting concrete suggestions to change the principles of our social order. But unfortunately the authorities haven't paid attention to them. Nearly 70 Belarusians had an opportunity to visit Sweden in the frame of those projects. A lot of them (including myself) were surprised to see the Swedish attitude towards women. At the beginning it seemed to me that the absolute gender equality was just for show. It doesn't matter whom you speak with - a member of the parliament, a mayor of a city or a head of a commune - this person usually mentions the number of women work in the Swedish authorities. Very impressive figures I must say! Nearly half of the members of the Swedish Parliament are women. A lot of women work as city mayors, heads of communes. It makes sense, because women are more rational, reasonable and eager to create. It is not surprising this country achieved such great success. Gender equality is nearly a cult there. We should learn much from Sweden.
  We should develop our cooperation with Sweden in the following spheres: human rights, mass media, trade unions, party building. But first of all we ourselves must decide what we want. We mustn't follow the principle - to do things, which are sponsored. Much attention should be paid to strategic development of the third sector in Belarus.
Swedish interest to Belarus is quite understandable. They look into the future. The countries, which would like to have good business relations with Belarus, should first make good contacts with Belarusian people in order to understand their mode of thinking, their traditions and habits. This is the right way to success.

Vasiliy Shaikov, the professor of Polotsk State University
Swedes showed the world what they have achieved in different spheres of life. Their experience is the most precious what they can bring to Belarus. It's high time for us to understand that the world lives in other dimensions and has values, which are completely different from ours.

Here are some different opinions of Belarusians about Swedes and their activities in Belarus. Of course this material can't be regarded as a scientific research. The readers should decide what point of view is closer to them. But I came to the conclusion, that we know each other so little. To my mind, it's necessary to develop our cooperation with Sweden, looking for the most effective forms and methods. The Belarusians, which take an active part in political and social life of their country, are most interested in contacts with Swedish organizations. Their visits to Belarus give us strong moral support. And we don't feel lonely in this world.

 
Written by Maksim Medvedev
Translated from Russian into English by Nadya Avsievich

Would you like to make any comments?
Please write to our website www.vitryssland.nu
info@mariafoto.se