Humanitarian cooperation

Until 2020 contacts between the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Estonia in the cultural and educational spheres were actively developing.

In 2017, as part of the events dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Estonia, an exhibition of Belarusian artists “Dedication to the theater” was opened in Tallinn. The event was organized by the Embassy of Belarus in Estonia and the Tallinn gallery SED ARTE. The exhibition featured works by 11 Belarusian artists. Some of them were exhibited to Estonians for the first time. The exhibition worked in Tallinn from April 5 to May 14, then it was moved to Kohtla-Jarve.

From October 18 to November 12, 2017, on the initiative and with the assistance of the Embassy of Belarus in Estonia, the Mikhail Savitsky Art Gallery in Minsk hosted an international exhibition of contemporary Belarusian and Estonian artists dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Belarus and Estonia. Issues related to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Belarus and Estonia were also widely covered during events with the participation of the Belarusian diaspora in Tallinn and Narva.

Until the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, presentations of the tourism opportunities of Belarus had been carried out on a regular basis in Estonia during the International Tourism Fair “TOUREST”.

In May 2019, at the city cemetery in Maardu was held a burial ceremony of the remains of 103 Soviet soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War.

In May 2019, at the National Library of Tallinn was held the opening ceremony of the exhibition “500 years. Art, Book and Book of Art”, dedicated to Francysk Skorina.

Exhibitions of Belarusian painters held with the assistance of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Republic of Estonia are especially popular in Estonia.

Cultural societies of the Belarusian diaspora hold a large number of events in the Republic of Estonia aimed to preserve the heritage and promote Belarusian culture (days of Belarusian culture, Written Language, concerts, thematic events, etc.).

In February 2020, the Embassy together with the Belarusian cultural society “Les” held a thematic event “Belarusian ornament”.

On 2021, in order to maintain and develop bilateral cooperation in the field of culture, the Embassy actively cooperated with Belarusian cultural societies in Estonia.

A total of 15 major joint events were held. The work was aimed at disseminating knowledge about the culture and rich creative heritage of Belarus abroad, developing Belarusian-Estonian cultural ties, as well as uniting Belarusian diaspora from various countries.

The Embassy together with the Center for National Minorities “Radzima” (Tallinn) and the Belarusian society “Syabry” (Narva), continued the practice of holding cultural events with the diaspora in an international format, with the involvement of Belarusian communities from other countries. In 2021, four such events were held (a creative online meeting dedicated to the International Mother Language Day, a children's competition “Easter composition with own hands”, a creative competition “We are united by a cornflower”, the Day of Belarusian Culture “Belarusian Kaleidoscope”), in which representatives of the Belarusian diaspora from Estonia, Latvia (Daugavpils, Riga), Russia (Moscow, Surgut), Spain (Madrid), Italy (Naples), Jordan (Amman), Ukraine (Chernigov) took part.

Cultural events aimed at uniting the Belarusian diaspora in Estonia were regularly held. Up to four Belarusian communities took part in them at the same time (the Kupalle festival (Pärnu), the festival of the Belarusian song “Our Motherland — Belarus” (Narva), the gala concert of the annual festival of Belarusian culture “Pyalestak” (Tallinn), the Day of the Belarusian writing (Tartu), the Day of Belarusian Culture “Meetings on the mound” (Tallinn), as well as Russian creative teams were involved.

With the assistance of the Embassy and the Association of Belarusians of Estonia, a performance of the Belarusian folk ensemble “Verbitsa” (Minsk) was organized at the event “Belarusian backyard embraces Estonian farm” (Pärnu, 4-5.08.2021). The event contributed to the further strengthening of cultural ties between the peoples of Belarus and Estonia.

Ensemble “Verbitsa” (Minsk) at the event “Belarusian backyard embraces Estonian farm”

Traditionally, great attention was paid to the organization and holding of art exhibitions, which have become the “visiting card” of the Embassy. on October 2021, at the Russian Theater (Tallinn), Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of Estonia V.Kachanov took part in the opening of the exhibition of the famous Belarusian painter Victoria Ilyina. The organizer of the event is the Belarusian Cultural Society “Pyalestak” (head — Diana Verman). The exhibition provided an opportunity to demonstrate the high level of skill of Belarusian artists, which is recognized abroad.

Exhibition of the famous Belarusian artist Victoria Ilyina (Tallinn)

On 2021 Belarusian teams by various sports (football, basketball, volleyball, athletics, figure skating) took part in competitions in Estonia. At the same time, the Embassy, as necessary, provided assistance to Belarusian athletes who were in Estonia. So, in July 2021, the Ambassador of Belarus to Estonia V.Kachanov held a meeting in Tallinn with the Belarusian team that took part in the European athletics Youth Championship (U-23).

Estonian schoolchildren were actively involved in joint Belarusian-Estonian events, which were held by the communities of the Belarusian diaspora in Estonia with the participation of the Embassy.

On July 2021 the Ambassador of Belarus to Estonia V.Kachanov met with the participants of the camp “Know the culture of Belarus”, which was attended by children of Belarus and Estonia aged 8 to 16 years. The organizer of the camp is the Belarusian cultural society “Syabry” (Narva). V. Kachanov informed the participants about the history of the formation of the Belarusian statehood, as well as about the main sights and achievements of the Republic of Belarus.

Ambassador of Belarus to Estonia V. Kachanov meets with participants of the camp “Know the culture of Belarus”

On October-December 2021 representatives of Estonian youth took an active part in the Days of Belarusian Culture “Belarusian Kaleidoscope”, dedicated to the Belarusian writer K.Krapiva, as well as in the drawing competition “Cornflower unites us”. The events, in which, along with Estonian schoolchildren, children from Belarus, Russia, Italy and Jordan participated, contributed to the creation of a positive image of our country, including in the field of education.

On 2022 the practice of holding creative meetings of the Belarusian diapora continued. In February 2022, a creative meeting of the Belarusian societies EVA-Studiorum (Tallinn) and Spadki (Tartu) took place. The event was attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of Estonia Vyacheslav Kachanov, as well as diplomats of the Embassy.

On February 19, 2022 the Narva Belarusian Society “Syabry” (Narva, Estonia) organized and held an online meeting dedicated to the International Mother Language Day. The event was attended by diplomats of the Embassy of Belarus in Estonia, representatives of Belarusian societies from Estonia (“Syabry”, BEZ (Jõhvi), “Spadki” (Tartu), “Les” (Tallinn), “Lad” (Tallinn), Pärnu)), compatriots from Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Italy, Armenia, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan, representatives of the Ministry of Culture and the Estonian Integration Foundation, as well as the office of the Commissioner for Religious and National Affairs of the Republic of Belarus. The main guests of the meeting were Yanka (Ivan Ivanovich) Kruk (Minsk), candidate of philological sciences, researcher of the traditional culture of the Belarusian people, and Oksana Veniaminovna Kotovich (Minsk), master of pedagogy, researcher of the traditional folk calendar of Belarusians and the main Belarusian rituals. They told the participants of the event in detail about many interesting facts about the Belarusian language, as well as traditional Belarusian customs and rituals. The online meeting, which was wide in terms of geographical coverage of the participants, made a significant contribution to the popularization of the Belarusian culture and language abroad.

As part of the ongoing work to perpetuate the memory of the Belarusians who died during the Great Patriotic War, on the eve of Victory Day, the Embassy of Belarus in Estonia took part in the burial ceremony of the remains of the native of Belarus, Gradusov Mikhail Artemyevich, at his homeland.

Solemn ceremony of handing over to the Embassy of the remains of private Gradusov M.A. found in Estonia took place in Tallinn on April 22, 2021.

After receiving the remains, the Embassy organized their delivery to Belarus and handed them over to representatives of the Cherikov District Executive Committee.

The ceremony of  handing over the remains of a native of Belarus, Private Gradusov Mikhail Artemyevich