For ages, Belarus has been the canvas on which European history has sketched itself. The tall castles, inspiring cathedrals, formidable fortresses and Lenin statues spread across its cultural landscape are milestones for, not just the country, but also the entire region.

Statistics like 25% of the Belarusian population was killed in World War II and that the Chernobyl disaster contaminated 20% of the country with radiation, affecting hundreds of thousands of people and mutating thousands of new borns are an affirmation of the resilience of the people. The nuclear disaster of Chernobyl sparked off Ukranian and Belarusian nationalism. Two years after the tragedy, in 1988, the Belarusian Popular Front took form. 27th of July 1990 Belarus declared it’s right to self-governance, despite the debilitated Soviet Union heaving its dissent. The Republic of Belarus, a fully autonomous and independent country emerged from behind the Iron Curtain on 15 March 1994.