This week, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya made a working visit to Canada and held a number of meetings with the country’s key politicians. Belarus was represented for the first time at the G7 ministers’ meeting. The Council of Europe’s Information Point for Belarus was announced to launch in Vilnius. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Advisor on Youth Policy and Students was elected Co-President of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe’s Consultative Council.
G7 MINISTERS’ MEETING
For the first time in history, Belarus and its interests were represented at the G7 ministers’ meeting. The Belarusian leader drew the attention of world leaders such as Antony Blinken, Annalena Baerbock, David Cameron, Stéphane Séjourné, Mélanie Joly, Josep Borrell, and Antonio Tajani to the humanitarian crisis in Belarus and its creeping occupation by Russia. The leader also called on the participants to find ways to achieve the release of political prisoners and provide rehabilitation. She expressed hope for increased aid to Ukraine. As a result of the visit, Belarus was included in the final communiqué of the meeting.
VISIT TO CANADA
On April 15-16, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was in Canada on a working visit. She met with the Prime Minister of the country, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Speakers of the House of Commons and the Senate of Canada, and the leaders of the opposition. In addition, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya held meetings with the President of the BNR Rada, Ivonka Survila, and Belarusians in Canada.
The discussions during the meetings focused on: 1) support for Belarusian political prisoners and the repressed, 2) solving the problems of the Belarusian diaspora in Canada; 3) holding the regime accountable, 4) supporting Belarus in the UN and OSCE, as well as Belarus’ participation in G7 events during Canada’s presidency.
As a result of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s visit to Canada, the following agreements were achieved: 1) the launch of strategic bilateral consultations with the democratic forces of Belarus, similar to the Strategic Dialogue with the USA, 2) new restrictions against the Lukashenka regime, 3) allocation of 1 million Canadian dollars to support independent Belarusian media, as well as projects to counter propaganda and disinformation.
INTERESTS OF BELARUSIANS IN COUNCIL OF EUROPE
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Senior Political Advisor, Alexander Dabravolski, and Advisor on Youth Policy and Students, Marharyta Vorykhava, met with the Director of Political Affairs and External Relations of the Council of Europe, Miroslav Papa. The meeting was held on the occasion of the launch of the Information Point on the Council of Europe for Belarus in Vilnius, scheduled for the fall of this year.
On April 8-10, Ms. Vorykhava participated in a meeting of the Council of Europe’s Advisory Council on Youth, where she was elected the Co-President of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe’s Consultative Council.
EDUCATION
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Advisor on Education and Science, Tatiana Shchyttsova, participated in a meeting of senior EU officials held to discuss assistance to democratic Belarus. She made a speech, emphasizing the need to maintain and create scholarship programs that allow Belarusian youth to study at European universities.
MEDIA
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya gave interviews to Agenzia Nova (Italy), ELTA (Lithuania), Descifrando la Guerra (Spain), Glob&Mail (Canada), Kyiv Post (Ukraine), Euronews (Greece), CBC (Canada), and Ceskatelevize (Czech Republic).
