During her working visit to the United States, the Belarusian leader spoke at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, an independent nonprofit organization focusing on international relations, global politics, and economics.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya highlighted the following points:
📌 Belarus is Putin’s laboratory of repression. The country is a testing ground for various methods of violence against people.
📌 Repression against Belarusians extends beyond the country’s borders. The authorities persecute people through trials “in absentia” and target exiled activists’ relatives inside the country.
📌 Belarus and Ukraine are linked in their aspirations for freedom, and the victory of democracy in one country will contribute to changes in the other.
📌 Technology must be used in the fight against dictatorships. Technology and social networks have become tools to support repressed Belarusians. They keep the protest movement alive even under pressure.
📌 A split within the regime’s elites must be encouraged. This will shift the balance of power and bring democratic changes closer.
📌 Belarusians are brave and creative. Despite the repression, they find ways to express their dissent against the regime’s policies and continue to fight.
📌 The regime’s “stability” is illusory – there remains an opportunity for a democratic change. Although the regime tries to project stability, the situation in Belarus is unstable, and the window of opportunity could open at any moment.
