On October 28, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with ambassadors and diplomats from 15 countries in Dublin during Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The meeting was organized by the Chargé d’Affaires of Poland to Ireland, Artur Michalski, who has supported Belarus’s democratic forces for many years.
Representatives from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine attended the meeting. Representatives of Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Ireland’s Ambassador to Lithuania, Séadhna MacHugh, also took part.
The discussion focused on the following issues:
- political prisoner releases and sanctions. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya stressed that securing the release of political prisoners must remain a humanitarian priority. At the same time, efforts must continue to bring repression to an end. Arrests continue in Belarus, and many released political prisoners are forcibly deported. She urged European countries to maintain a principled stance, keep political prisoner releases a priority in any talks with Minsk, and sustain pressure until systemic change begins;
- documents and support for Belarusians abroad. The participants discussed the difficulties Belarusians face with expired passports, obtaining legal status, and securing travel documents. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya highlighted Ireland’s decision to accept expired Belarusian passports for residence permit renewals and urged other countries to keep seeking practical solutions for Belarusians;
- Ukraine and Belarus’s security. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya outlined the development of cooperation with Ukraine, including her meetings with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine’s foreign ministry leadership, as well as the work of the Democratic Belarus Mission in Kyiv. The participants also discussed Belarus’s growing military dependence on Russia and the use of Belarusian enterprises to fulfill Russian defense industry orders;
- accountability for the regime and international mechanisms. The discussion covered the case before the International Criminal Court initiated following Lithuania’s referral, as well as the need to continue investigating the regime’s crimes. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya called on countries to support international accountability mechanisms and pay greater attention to transnational repression;
- support for independent media, culture, and civil society. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya thanked the countries for supporting independent Belarusian media, human rights defenders, and cultural and educational projects. She urged them to continue this support, particularly for programs that help Belarusians maintain ties with Europe and reach audiences inside Belarus;
- Belarus’s European future. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya spoke about the Belarus–Ireland Conference on National Cultural Identities held in Dublin the previous day and thanked Ireland for supporting Belarusian initiatives during its Presidency of the Council of the EU. The participants also discussed preparations for the European Political Community Summit and opportunities to strengthen cooperation between Belarus’s democratic forces and European countries.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Belarus must remain on the international agenda. Efforts to secure the release of political prisoners must continue, Belarusians in exile must be able to resolve their document-related issues, and independent media and civil society must receive support”.
