During her visit to Finland, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with the Speaker of the country’s Parliament, Jussi Halla-aho. Mr. Halla-aho opened the meeting in Belarusian, and the conversation partly continued in the Belarusian language. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya thanked Mr. Halla-aho for organizing the Helsinki Dialogue Conference, which led to the formalization of the democratic forces’ relations with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the inclusion of a delegation from the Coordination Council in the Assembly’s work. She also expressed gratitude for the efforts of the parliamentary group “For a Democratic Belarus” in the Finnish Parliament.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya thanked Jussi Halla-aho for supporting Ukraine and keeping the issue of Belarus on the international agenda. She spoke about the ongoing efforts to secure the release of political prisoners in Belarus and the coordination of these efforts with the United States. The two discussed possible developments in the situation in Belarus, the upcoming Zapad-2025 military exercises, and potential pathways for a power transition.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called for supporting independent media, Belarusian culture, and the pro-European sentiments within Belarusian society.
“We had an in-depth discussion on the possible scenarios for change in Belarus. I explained that in the West, Belarus is often viewed as merely an appendage of Russia, and as a result, people overlook the fact that we have a different context, a different history, and a distinct culture. Step by step, the Lukashenka regime is surrendering our country to Russia. That’s why it’s so important to have separate policies toward Belarus and Russia. Speaker Halla-aho understands our situation well – our struggle for independence and national identity. We spoke at length about the role of the US, and I shared our vision of how we’re coordinating efforts with the new US administration, especially in the area of freeing political prisoners”, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya noted.
While in Helsinki, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya also held meetings with the President of Finland, the country’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia.
