BSSR Supreme Council voted for it on July 27, 1990.
Declaration proclaimed Belarus as the sovereign state, which is based on self-determination and statehood of the Belarusian language, the rule of people in determining their own destiny. The supreme goal of the sovereignty was free development and welfare of the republic's citizens. People of Belarus were proclaimed as the bearer of sovereignty and the sole source of state power.
In the first years of independence this July 27th was considered as Belarus' Independence Day. Later, Alexander Lukashenko through a referendum postponed the celebration on July 3 - Day of Minsk Liberation from the Nazis.
