Babaryka will go into business — he has already opened a company in Germany

— I am currently in Germany, living in Berlin, and sometimes I call myself a VIP emigrant, because some procedures and, probably, some opportunities that arose thanks to a direct invitation from the German government, as well as the provision of refugee status or asylum by Germany, certainly help in some way, and the Belarusians in Berlin who are here help very well.

The reception, provision of services, medical examination, and provision of medical services were very well organized. As of today, practically all issues regarding documents have been resolved; that is, I have a foreign passport for travel, I have a German ID, I have German insurance, I am registered with the job center and receive assistance. Household matters are resolved.

I have finally resolved the issue of understanding what I will do in terms of my livelihood. One of the main parts of my life will be dedicated to business. I have registered a company in Germany and developed an understanding of the complex of services this company will provide. I am already negotiating contracts. The general direction is consulting and the transformation of people and companies into AI Native Life and AI Native Company.

I really want to return to Belarus. Accordingly, I want to live in Belarus, I want to work in Belarus, I want to be useful, first and foremost, of course, in Belarus. Therefore, given any opportunity, and even within the scope of what I will be doing, one of the most important priorities is whether it can be beneficial to Belarusians.

— Does Viktor Babaryka intend to engage in politics? Does he see his place in the political field?

— For me, a politician is someone who either possesses the instruments of power or fights to possess these instruments of power. And so, I can definitively say that in 2020, when I put forward my candidacy, I certainly wanted to be a politician. I have no doubts about that, I confirm it.

To say that I am now fighting to become a politician, to get the presidential seat, would probably be incorrect. And so, from this point of view, I am not a politician. But I clearly imagine that the political field, partners, and people with whom we cooperate, or projects that we are and will be involved in, are certainly connected to those who are engaged in politics. Therefore, I will probably say that I am a person who will also work in the political field. That's probably it.

— For many in 2020, it was surprising to read and hear about Babaryka's confidence that he would win the elections. Where did this confidence come from? Many thought and still think that it was due to tacit support from Russia.

— I think I did something to become who I am. Together with my wife, we built a wonderful family. Together with my colleagues, we built one of the best banks. Together with the bank, we did many great projects. The logical development of all this was to build a better country together. And it seemed that these messages I sent could lead someone to come and say: «Let's do it together.» But for some reason, in 2020, no one offered me that.

For me, it was an evolutionary development. I had to take this step. I had to do what I could so that not only the bank, not only the projects, but also the country, as it seems to me, could live better.

What is Belarus? Both the regime, and the government, and the country — it's people. So, some people succeed, others don't. If I succeed, if I have a success story, why can't I continue this success story?

I'm not going to convince you of anything, why should I? How is the support for my decision manifested, or how can one find out if it's explicit or implicit? Do you have information about Russia's support for my nomination?

When I made this decision, as a responsible manager, I naturally called the members of the board of directors and informed them of my decision. Because I am an hired manager, I am obliged to do this. I violated a certain regulation, because such things should be discussed a month in advance. And I offered two options: send me on vacation, which would generally be logical and good at the time, or dismiss me.

Apparently, within 24 hours, as I understand it, consultations took place, and the option of sending me on a month's vacation was deemed bad. And I was dismissed within a day. As a result, when I went to submit my documents, I honestly wrote everywhere that I was applying as unemployed.

— The events of August 9th and thereafter were not absolutely unique for Belarus. In 1996, 2006, and 2020, people were beaten, detained, and presidential candidates were given long sentences. Why didn't Babaryka consider such a scenario? What was unexpected for him? And who is to blame?

— I am absolutely convinced that the only option for true democracy is when the people choose their own government. I believe and am still convinced that the time will come, and for that, I will do what I can to create conditions in Belarus under which the Belarusian people can truly choose their own government, the one they deem necessary.

That for this right, which was expressed on August 9, 2020, the Belarusian people paid such a huge price, and that it would be so, I can honestly say that yes, I did not think the price would be so high. That is true. Not for me, nor for my son, nor for my friends, nor for the Belarusian people.

This I can definitely say. But for some reason, I don't recall any normal, officially or unofficially published material, at least before June 18, where it was stated that Babaryka's actions and what was happening then would result in everyone being imprisoned. I don't remember anything like that.

— Should we expect a window of opportunity, and what will it be like for Belarus? What will happen to the security system and the 'Russian world'?

— A window of opportunity always exists, everywhere. There is no absolute dead end. There is always a way out. I was a programmer in a past life, I always know there isn't just one direction. There's always 'yes' or 'no.' So there are at least two options. Since there are two options, a window of opportunity always exists. What kind is it?

For me, for example, it's quite obvious, if simply discretely. Belarus has two options. That is, either it will cease to exist, or it will still remain an independent country. For now, this is, it seems to me, the biggest risk. What happened after 2020 has so tightly bound Belarus to Russia, including our country's participation in the war, that the options, I would say, to break free have become even fewer than they were in 2020. Therefore, the threat of losing independence has sharply increased. This is my opinion.

I am absolutely convinced that the events of 2020 would not have happened without support from Russia. I'm not saying they are to blame, but without that support, there likely wouldn't have been such harshness and fear. But that's one story.

The second is, if all of us together, including myself, manage to do everything possible to prevent this from happening, including efforts in the political field, so that when a new security architecture is formed after this brutal war unleashed by Russia, the status of Belarus, if not already precisely defined as an independent country, will at least be a subject for further discussion.

If, within the framework of this architecture, it is stated that this is still the sphere of influence of the 'Russian world,' then the window of opportunity will remain so meager that, well, I don't know…

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