On the second day of the Warsaw Security Forum, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya took part in the panel discussion “The Unbroken: Fight for Democratic Sovereignty in a Hostile Neighborhood” alongside the Mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, the fifth President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, the Vice-Chair of Open Society Foundations, Daniel Sachs, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke about countering Russian propaganda.
- The struggle against the regime is a matter of security for the whole region
“To ensure regional security, our partners have only one choice – to support the democratic movement. Otherwise, it will be Lukashenka, serving Putin’s interests and remaining a constant threat to our neighbors and to the entire Western world. Or it will be the democratic forces, who share European values, want to return to the European family of nations, and be a source of stability — a reliable partner for our neighbors”.
- Continued economic support for civil society is essential
“We need to defend our national identity, because Russia is doing in Belarus exactly what it does in the occupied territories of Ukraine. They want to erase everything national from our country. Russification is underway in Belarus. They seek to destroy and rewrite our history, to erase all that connects us with Europe, and to emphasize only what ties us to Russia”.
- Security is not only about military power
“Military power might be meaningless if there are no people ready to defend their land and their values. We need to invest in Belarusians, because we are part of regional security. Do not ignore Belarus, do not bypass Belarus in peace negotiations, because we do not need a pro-Russian ‘Lukashenka balcony’ over Europe. Putin wants to install his own ‘Lukashenkas’ or ‘Yanukovychs’ in every country just to rule. That is why we must invest in people. This is truly important, because people are our strength”.
