New Year’s Address of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko to Belarusians 

Midnight is approaching. These are the moments when we watch the clock tick down with excitement and anticipation and it seems that time flies. We have so much to do: to thank the passing year for all the good things, to take a look into the future, to make wishes. 

On New Year’s Eve we gather around the table with our family, relatives and friends to say warm words to each other and thank each other for good deeds.

Just before midnight on the New Year’s Eve this tradition makes its way into the Palace of Independence. I am very happy to congratulate you, dear Belarusians, on the New Year and to send my sincerest wishes to all corners of our country. 

I thank you for the best moments of the past year. For the joy of seeing young people start families and become parents, grandparents welcome grandchildren and great-grandchildren, the little ones start school and graduates open the door to adulthood, continuing the history of the family and the country. 

Of course, not everything and not always went as we dreamed. But life is like music. It has different notes, different tone ranges. We should always tune in for the best, helping each other. 

I thank you for being there for those who needed support in their hour of need. For the New Year’s holiday that you give to our children, lonely people and the elderly these days.

A low bow to all those who work with people: treating, teaching, taking care.

Our successes and achievements were for the benefit of the Motherland.

Belarusian farmers gathered a good harvest, enough to share with friends and neighbors. Domestic producers rolled out new products. 

Our dear Belarus has become even cozier and more comfortable. It was done by you – all those who design, build, make our life brighter with their art. The beauty and cleanliness admired by our guests who come to visit us are our brand image, our calling card. The credit for this goes to you. 

We may not always appreciate what has become the norm, but we do know this: we choose our own path by ourselves. 

I thank you for your political wisdom. We held the single voting day well. Just as calmly, without hints and tips, we conducted the Belarusian People’s Congress. This is a historic step, the effect of which we are yet to see in action. 

The flight of the first cosmonaut of the sovereign Belarus became another milestone in the country’s history.

Every year these words sound stronger and more relevant, and their meaning becomes weightier. So does the grateful memory about the heroic generation of the Great Patriotic War.

In the year of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, it is a matter of honor for us, the heirs of the victors, to preserve the peace bequeathed to us. 

The year 2024 is becoming history. Our shared history. It is made of hundreds of thousands of memories, but the story line is always the same: sad events recede into the past, happy ones become the best road map to the future.

We know that everything we have achieved in the past year of 2024 will be continued in the coming year 2025.

We will go through a generational change in the coming years. We are doing it our Belarusian wise way by relying on everything that we cherish and are proud of. 

The next five-year period in our country will be the five-year period of quality, and we will devote each year to one important area.

Let us start with the Year of Improvement. The goal of the year will be to improve the quality of life of people.

Very soon we will be choosing the future of the state. We all want it to be successful and happy. And peaceful!

We want our families and friends to be healthy. We want to be surrounded by reliable friends, kind and caring people. 

It is time to make wishes, and may all your wishes come true. May our dear Belarus, strong and independent, will always be a united family and home for everyone.

I am proud of you and happy to be an executor of your will! Happiness and good luck to you!