On September 3, the Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament, Juozas Olekas, officially received Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Vilnius. Members of the “For a Democratic Belarus” Parliamentary Group and representatives of most political parties also took part in the meeting. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya was accompanied by her Chief Advisor, Franak Viacorka; Diplomatic Advisor, Dzianis Kuchynski; and Advisor on Parliamentary Cooperation and Constitutional Reform, Anatoli Liabedzka.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya expressed her deep gratitude to the Seimas for its consistent and principled position and support for the Belarusian people, as well as for decisions not to equate Belarusians with Russians in the country’s legislation. She highlighted Speaker Olekas’s speech during the plenary session and his August 25 message congratulating Belarusians on the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Belarus.
The parties discussed:
- Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called for making Belarus one of the priorities on the European agenda during Lithuania’s Presidency;
- preparations for the release of political prisoners. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya thanked Lithuania for its support on logistics and legal stay issues;
- a potential procedure to exchange Belarusian driver’s licenses without additional exams for people with humanitarian residence permits, following Poland’s example, and possible driving exams in Belarusian;
- restoring Belarus to the list of countries whose citizens are eligible for Lithuanian state scholarships for master’s degree programs, and restoring this opportunity for the 2027 admissions cycle;
- Lithuanian language courses for Belarusians;
- social issues, including support for children with disabilities;
- the European Humanities University and Belarusians’ access to education;
The parties agreed in principle to sign a memorandum on cooperation between the Lithuanian Seimas and Belarus’s democratic forces, similar to that signed in 2024 with the European Parliament. They also reached an agreement to organize and hold a meeting of the International Alliance of Parliamentary Groups “For a Democratic Belarus” in Vilnius.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Lithuania remains one of the most reliable political friends of democratic Belarus. Our main goal is to turn this support into even stronger and more concrete action for Belarusians”.
