Patriarch Kirill bestows Order of Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow on Lukashenko

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia awarded Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko with the Order of Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow 1st Class on June 6, BelTA has learned, Report informs.

The head of state was honored for his attention to the development of church-state relations.

The Order was established in 1988 to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. The decree on conferring this award on the Belarusian president was signed by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on August 30, 2024.

Patriarch Kirill thanked the Belarusian head of state for the situation in Belarus: “Huge changes in the life of the country, and not only economic ones, not only in the welfare of the people, but also in the general atmosphere,” he said. When I was a metropolitan in Smolensk, I often traveled through Belarus, so I can see the huge changes that have taken place during that time. This all has been achieved under your leadership. Many things were the result of your creative imagination of what the country and the people should be. All this is implemented for the benefit of Belarus.”