It is impossible to regain the situation back after the attacks in Paris, so we have to look for new solutions. A lot of aspects and a lot of players should be involved in the search of the common way.

The tragedy in Paris is one more sign of big changes in the world; and a billion march in France, where dozens of heads of state took part. Hashtag #JeSuisCharlie was among the leading ones in Belarusan networks, too, these days. However, Ulad Vialichka, the Director General of the International Consortium “EuroBelarus” notes that “with regard to the processes related to interreligious conflicts, religious contradictions, and conflicts of value, Belarus is quite calm country.”

“It doesn’t mean that we don’t have these problems at all, but still their form is not that radical. And that is what the tragedy in Paris is all about,” said Ulad Vialichka in the interview with EuroBelarus Information Service. “But Belarusans are also shocked, because people were deprived of their lives for their values and views, while we are more used to deprivation of freedom for that, and our people are getting at peace with that. The situation in Paris is very acute, very black-and-white, very concrete, and in some sense unclear for Belarusans. It is unthinkable to be deprived of life for a cartoon. In Belarusan system of values life still stands higher than all the other categories. This is the main value that everyone shares in Belarus, despite the presence of the death penalty.”

Ulad Vialichka notes that due to the absence of confessional and co-existence experience of big groups of Islamic and Christian populations “we don’t even feel the acuteness of the problem.” “Such acuteness is familiar to the regions where different confessions are constantly interacting, which is hardly the near perspective for Belarus. The situation we see in Europe now has to do with the long-term European (including colonial) policy,” says Ulad Vialichka.

The head of the Consortium emphasizes that it doesn’t at all mean that this is the conflict of different cultures: “We know quite old and close relations between, let’s say, United Kingdom and Egypt, Italy and Libya, and so on. The horrible attack in Paris is related to the conflict of values of Islamic fundamentalism and modern European democracy, not the mistakes of immigration policy or problems of interfaith relations.”

Consequences

“There are interest groups that will try to get the maximum use of that situation; the groups from the both sides. The problem of this value conflict is on the brink of moral and legal instruments. Thus, in such ambiguous and conflicting zones groups that need to take out quick capital, including political one, will appear,” noted Ulad Vialichka. “Who will get quick interest money in this case? It is likely that it will be Islamic fundamentals and European right wing politicians.”

Solutions

“The decision, as I see it, lies not in the escalation, but in the intellectual search. The conflict of values cannot be defused quickly; this is big work for the society. As seen from the history, it doesn’t pass peacefully, without tragedies, blood, and victims. It is only after that that the society becomes prepared to review its former values. However, I think that the solution is both for European liberals and Islamic ideologists to abandon our former directions. Although today I see no obvious solution, we should at least demonstrate readiness to talk. And that is why there is danger that the situation will enter the regime of “Zugzwang”, the regime of suspension. We can’t regain the situation back; we need to look for new solutions for this new multicultural European society. We have to many aspects and too many players who need to be included in the search for common solution,” Ulad Vialichka sums up.