On June 25, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met in Gdańsk with the legendary leader of Poland’s Solidarity movement, former President of Poland, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Wałęsa.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya thanked Mr. Wałęsa for his many years of support for the Belarusian people and noted that the experience of the Polish Solidarity movement continues to inspire Belarus’s democratic movement: “Today, Belarusians, just as Poles once did, are looking for a peaceful way out of the crisis and a path toward systemic change. Your experience shows that even the strongest dictatorships are not eternal”.
The parties discussed possible scenarios for a peaceful democratic transition in Belarus, agreeing on the importance of civil society unity and international support.
Lech Wałęsa expressed solidarity with Belarusians who continue their struggle for freedom and urged them never to give up under any circumstances.
Mr. Wałęsa also recalled that during his presidency, he dreamed of Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine joining the European Union at the same time. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya stressed that this vision remains relevant today: “We want to bring Belarus back into the European family of nations and make it a good neighbor to Poland, Ukraine, and all of Europe”.
