Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya began her working visit to Berlin by participating in the Belarus Future Forum. The event brought together over 130 participants, including representatives from European ministries, embassies, and civil society. Speakers included officials from the European External Action Service, members of the German Bundestag, and leaders of the United Transitional Cabinet.
During the discussions, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke about political prisoners, international support, the future of Belarus in the context of regional security, and the aspirations of the Belarusian people.
Read Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s full speech below:
“Dear professor Lammert,
minister Lindner,
Ladies and gentlemen, friends,
And all freedom fighters in this room.
It’s good to be here with you again—among friends. Friends of freedom. Friends of democracy. Friends of a free Belarus. Standing here, I feel a powerful truth: we are not alone in our fight.
I want to thank all German partners, who made this forum possible. It’s Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Heinrich Boll Stiftung, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Friedrich Naumann Stiftung. Your support over the years has helped our movement survive its darkest moments, continue striving, and keep fighting.
In particular, I want to thank Jakob Wollenstein, from KAS, the mastermind behind this forum. Over the past four years, Jakob has become like a family to the Belarusian democratic movement. Few people know that Jakob speaks better Belarusian than many officials of the regime. And he doesn’t just speak Belarusian — he writes articles, records songs, and even makes films!
Dear Jakob, I’m excited to see your “Seven Symptoms of Belarusianness” — you embody them all. And it’s sad that you’ll soon be leaving Belarusian projects, but I’m sure that since you’ve already been “infected” with Belarusianness, this isn’t a final farewell. And we are looking forward to work with your successor, Gabriele Baumann, and to accept her in our family.
I remember back in 2020, when our revolution sparked and I was forced into exile, Germany was the second country I visited. You know what impressed me the most? The Bundestag. Not just its size and atmosphere, but also its traditions.
I recall when I was speaking, suddenly, deputies began knocking on their desks. Confused, I asked Norbert Röttgen, then head of the Foreign Committee, “What’s wrong?” He smiled and said, “That’s how they show their support.”
I was told that Belarus is one of the few topics that unites all German parties and political groups. And I’m glad to see that the same unity is still strong today.
As a political newbie, I was moved by the support from German politicians who didn’t know me, and whom I didn’t know back then. But over time, I’m glad that this connection transformed into long-term partnership and friendship.
Now, in the Bundestag, we have a group of friends for democratic Belarus, with leaders like Robin Wagener, Anikó Glogowski-Merten, Knut Abraham, Johannes Schraps, who are here with us today. Believe me I know how difficult it can be to keep Belarus on the agenda, but nothing seems impossible for you. Last year’s Bundestag resolution on Belarus and the Inter-Parliamentary alliance meeting were great successes and results of your collective effort! Thank you!
I want to thank the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and personally minister Annalena Baerbok. I met her before she became a minister, and did not expect it to become such a friendship. In recent years, we have achieved a lot. Under her leadership, Germany has launched programs to support political prisoners, and became number one country on issuing Schengen visas to Belarusians. Dear Tobias, thanks for distinguishing Belarusians and the regime, Belarus and Russia, and formalizing relationships with democratic forces.
I am very glad to see more and more countries appointing special envoys, and some of them are here with us today. Christina, Einars, Violaine —I know it’s not easy being ambassadors to a captive nation, but even in such difficult circumstances, you demonstrate both creativity and bravery. Thank you for your tireless efforts in fighting for our political prisoners. You know that it’s our biggest pain, and my personal pain too, and it’s our task, to do all we can to get them all free.
And finally, I want to thank all the Belarusians in this room — politicians, intellectuals, activists, and artists. You are the heartbeat of New Belarus — a Belarus free from tyranny, war, and corruption. A Belarus that proudly belongs to the European family, respecting not only its citizens but also its neighbors. Democracy, human rights, and fair elections must not be just a dream, but a norm, like here, in Germany.
You know, when I meet Belarusian diaspora here, they often complain about three things: German bureaucracy, endless quarreling in Bundestag, and, of course, the ever-delayed Deutsche Bahn trains.
And I hope that one day, my people in Belarus will have the same luxury of complaining about bureaucracy and trains, rather than about the horrors of living under dictatorship. In the end, all we want for Belarus is to become another “boring” European democracy.
Dear friends,
Berlin is the perfect place to discuss what lies ahead for Belarus. Just as Berliners were once separated by the wall, Belarusians today are separated from their democratic European future.
Just a few days ago, we marked 35 years of German unification. That momentous event reminds us that nothing is permanent. Many once believed the Berlin Wall would stand forever, just as some now believe the dictatorship in Belarus will never fall.
But, of course, this fall didn’t come without reason or effort. For years, West Germans never stopped fighting for their countrymen in the East, under Soviet control. They supported the dissident movement, welcomed refugees fleeing the Stasi, and helped to free political prisoners.
People in the East overcame dictatorship because they believed in the alternative offered by Western democracy. In the same way, the Belarusian people must believe that the EU is their alternative to the Russian World.
As Soviet-occupied Eastern Germany in the past, today’s Belarus is an open-air prison. There are more than 1300 political prisoners. A number of people, including Maryia Kalesnikava and my husband Siarhei, are kept incommunicado. I haven’t heard from my husband for more than 500 days. And I don’t even know if he is alive. It’s a real torture of prisoners and their families.
We realize that realize that releasing political prisoners, making changes in Belarus are task for Belarusians themselves, but can’t make this alone.
Just as West Germany was a beacon of hope and freedom for the DDR, today, the EU must be the new “West Berlin” for Belarusians.
The West must not close itself off to Belarusians — neither physically nor mentally. On the contrary, we must do everything possible to bring Belarusians back to Europe, where they belong. We must show them that when the time comes, Europe’s door will be open.
We need to focus on a mental “eastern expansion” of Europe today and seize the window of opportunity, which might come sooner than we think.
As we speak, there is a real threat of a new Iron Curtain between Belarus and Europe, and we cannot allow this to happen. The Iron Curtain was the project of tyranny, not democracy. It was designed to isolate people, sow frustration, and strip them of their basic rights and freedoms. We must not let dictators succeed in this again.
While we isolate dictators and punish them with sanctions, we must stand by the people of Belarus, who continue to fight for their freedom. We must maintain people-to-people ties. Offer free visas, scholarships to young Belarusians. Support independent artists, like Lavon Volski, or uncensored media, like Deutsche Welle Belarus or Belsat TV.
I know how much the EU is already doing in this direction, and here I want to thank Dorota Dlouhy-Suliga from the European External Action Service, who is with us today. Of course, there is always room for improvement, but this is the right path, and together, I’m sure we can do even more.
We must change our perspective on how we see Belarus.
We must see Belarus not as a threat, but as an opportunity. Change in Belarus can spark change in Russia and challenge tyrannies worldwide. It can also provide crucial support to Ukraine and deal a major blow to Putin’s tyranny.
We must see Belarus not just as a regime, but as a nation of people who are deeply European. Unlike Russia, Belarus has a documented democratic majority. The choice for Europe wasn’t made for short-term gains, but because of Belarus’s history, culture, and identity.
We must admit that Belarusians do not share the Russian imperial mentality. They reject Russia’s war in Ukraine, and they don’t want to be part of the “Russian world.” Despite living under terror and propaganda, we have not given up — we continue to resist.
We must realize that without free Belarus, without free Ukraine, the European project will not be over. Only a democratic Belarus can be a donor of stability and peace in Europe, not its constant threat.
Dear friends,
The fight for freedom may be difficult, it may be long. As Ambassador Dirk Schuebel once said, sometimes we need to embrace strategic patience.
And here, I want to quote another German politician, Konrad Adenauer, who once said: “In an instant age, perhaps we must relearn the ancient truth that patience, too, has its victories.” We all need patience and strength to walk all the way to victory. What we definitely cannot afford – is to retreat. We have come too far together, and we have already achieved so much.
We must finish what we started in 2020. We must make sure that all political prisoners are released, and repression ends. We must bring all perpetrators to justice. We must be ready for the future, because, as we learned, changes can start unexpectedly. And we must make sure that the dictatorship will never return to Belarus again.
Tomorrow in Berlin, near the Stasi Museum, I will open an exhibition, organized by Libereco and Viasna, dedicated to imprisoned Belarusian human rights defenders, including Ales Bialiatski, Uladz Labkovich, Valiantsin Stefanovich. I believe this exhibition holds great symbolism, showing how history repeats itself and how crucial it is to learn from past mistakes.
When you live in a democracy, it’s like air. Only when you lose it, you start to suffocate. While in some countries, people take it for granted, in others – people pay for freedom with their lives. This is why supporting Belarus, standing with Ukraine and defending democracy is so essential.
I am sure that Belarus can be a success story. And together, we can make this happen.
Long live Belarus!”
