Norway changes name to Belarus
From now on, Belarus will call Belarus in Norwegian.
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– We do it in solidarity with the Belarusian democracy movement. They will not be an extension of Russia, writes Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt in a press release.
The decision on the new naming practice comes after both the foreign minister and the prime minister have met the leader of the democracy movement in the country, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaja. She has called on the international community to change the name of Belarus to Belarus.
Tsikhanouskaja was the presidential candidate during the Belarusian elections in 2020. Now she is working for a democratic homeland from her exile in Lithuania.
Follows Sweden and Denmark
Belarus is the direct Norwegian translation of Belarus. Both Sweden and Denmark have already made the name change Tsikhanouskaya is asking for. Now Norway is following suit.
The name change takes place on the same day as the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus.
– We believe it is right to change the use of names, in solidarity with the Belarusian democracy movement, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in the press release.