Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is visiting Iceland to take part in the 76th session of the Nordic Council in Reykjavik. Its events are focused on regional security and stability, as well as international cooperation in environmental protection and culture.
During a speech, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya outlined five practical steps that the Nordic countries could take today to support Belarusians:
1️. Integrate democratic Belarus into the Nordic and Nordic-Baltic communities, and formalize relations. “Invite our representatives as observers to your sessions, engage us in your projects. Provide young Belarusians with internships at your offices. Help us in drafting reforms. Join groups ‘For a Democratic Belarus’”.
2️. Facilitate the release of political prisoners and support the repressed. “Support our efforts on releasing political prisoners and helping the repressed. Every parliamentarian can take patronage over one of them. We must raise this topic before the UN and OSCE”.
3️. Expand mobility opportunities for Belarusians and support civil society and independent media. “I ask Nordic countries to provide more scholarships, visas, exchanges, and training. Help Belarusians who are fleeing repression with legalization. Help students to study, and honest Belarusian businesses to work in your countries. Increase assistance to our civil society and organizations.”.
4️. Hold perpetrators of repression accountable. “Support Lithuanian referral to the International Criminal Court against Lukashenka’s regime. No crimes must remain unpunished”.
5️. Declare the 2025 “election” illegitimate. “Next year, the dictator will re-appoint himself as “president”. We must reject the so-called election as a farce. We must dismantle the criminal regime and call for a real, free and fair election that Belarusian people truly deserve”.
