Ruslan Shkodin, Military Commissar of the Vitebsk Region: "The Big Conversation with the President" was very emotional and interesting"

– The "Big Conversation with the President" was very emotional and interesting. The most pressing issues were touched upon, including the foreign and domestic political situation. I came with the intention of asking a question that interested me – as a military man and an ordinary citizen – concerning the neutrality of our country and amendments to the Constitution, but I heard a comprehensive answer to it earlier precisely thanks to the format of the event. There were no restrictions, people spoke freely, communicated, offered their initiatives, and at times, real discussions arose. There were moments when the President gave instructions on the spot to sort out the situation. Communicating with opponents, the Head of State was extremely frank, delved deeply into the topic every time, answered clearly, sometimes harshly, but where appropriate, subtly ironic and joked. From my own observations, I know that a person behaves this way when they are confident.

The heartfelt speech of the Georgian journalist was memorable, who spoke about the impression he was left with after meeting Belarus after a long interval. The man simply went out onto the streets of Minsk and talked with ordinary passers-by. From them, he learned how high the President's authority is in our country, everyone expressed their support for him. He gave an example of what happened to his homeland in 30 years after gaining independence. The country is divided into three parts – society has long diverged in opinions, the country's economy has declined, the population has halved. The people were left destitute. Georgia is stuck between NATO and the European Union, with no prospects in sight.

The participation of representatives of the American media in the "Big Conversation" was also memorable. They asked the same question (about the events of August last year) three times, as if copied. It was about the legitimacy of the presidential elections, "torture" at Okrestina, pressure on the media, and the like. It looked ridiculous. If the second time a slight laughter went through the hall, then the third time none of the attendees held back their emotions. Credit must be given to the President, he did not ignore the Americans' questions three times.

Despite the fact that the meeting unexpectedly dragged on for a long time, no one was in a hurry to leave. The conversation was truly big and interesting.