Initiators of the action require a referendum. The site public petitions avaaz.org collect signatures for a referendum on joining Shumyachy Smolensk region of the Republic of Belarus. Appeal addressed the Smolensk region and district administration Shumyachy. Text of the petition is as follows:
"Until 1939, most of Shumyachy region was a part of the Republic of Belarus. We believe the illegal seizure of native Belarusian lands."
Also petition for the return of Smolensk Belarus appeared in late March on the website change.org.
"For centuries, Smolensk was eastern outpost of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Even after his power confiscation Muscovy 19th century ethnographic research clearly indicates preferential there Belarusian population. Proclaimed in 1918, the Belarusian People's Republic, which included the land on which the Belarusians were the ethnic majority, claimed to Smolensk. BSSR, the Bolsheviks proclaimed January 1, 1919 as a response to the proclamation of the BNR, was declared in Smolensk, and he also served as its capital. During the next couple of years, most of the lands have been selected BSSR voluntarist thoughtless decision, after years of infighting part of they had returned, but the parts were not so lucky. We believe that it is necessary to correct historical injustice and give the people of Smolensk region speak freely to join the Republic of Belarus in the referendum."
The petition has already collected nearly 1,500 signatures.
Orsha.eu