Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office 2021 activities: key figures, concepts, and results

Year in figures

• More than 200 thousand people joined the Peramoga plan.
• 785 thousand Belarusians supported negotiations and voted on the Voice platform.
• 18.7 thousand people signed up for the Workers’ Movement.
• The EU allocated 3 billion euros for the Comprehensive Plan of Economic Support to democratic Belarus, with the potential to mobilize up to 10 billion euros in general aid after the democratic transition.
• Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya gave 130 international addresses and 559 interviews to Belarusian and foreign media about the situation in Belarus.
• Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya held 360 meetings with high-level politicians and political executives, diplomats, and NGOs during her visits, which helped form a common position, ensure the support of civil society and assistance to the new Belarus in the period of reforms. 59 countries refused to recognize Lukashenka as president, 41 countries imposed sanctions on the regime.
• Volunteers of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office distributed over 700 thousand leaflets, 450 thousand stickers, and about 50 thousand copies of the underground press.
• Volunteers of the Office sent more than 12,000 letters and postcards to political prisoners.
• Dozens of Belarusian citizens were recognized as victims of torture by the investigation team in Lithuania within the framework of universal jurisdiction.
• The Office held more than 150 online and personal meetings with volunteers, activists, doctors, associated representatives of the democratic forces, and more than 100 online and personal meetings with the Belarusian diaspora.
• Belarusians in Diaspora held 525 solidarity rallies worldwide. 34 initiatives were launched to support refugees and the repressed.

Elaborated concepts and documents

• The common strategy of the democratic forces focuses on new and free elections and unites Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office, the Coordination Council, National Anti-Crisis Management, political parties, and initiatives. It includes strengthening civil society, raising awareness, internal and external pressure, contacts with officials, and a reform package for New Belarus.
• The EU Comprehensive Plan of Economic Support to democratic Belarus. 3 billion euros will be disbursed to support economic growth, assist Belarus in holding reforms, invest in social infrastructure and the private sector, and support the civil sector in Belarus after the democratic transition. This is only the first part of international assistance for Belarus.
• The Act on Exemption from Liability and Restoration of the Rights of Persons Persecuted on Political Grounds is, in fact, a ready-made solution on how to release people within two days. It implies the release of people convicted in politically motivated administrative and criminal cases opened since May 8, 2020, and compensation for the fines paid.
• The draft democratic Constitution of the new Belarus is the Basic Law, written with the participation of Belarusians and relevant to the real situation in the country. The document has been in public discussion for several months now, everyone can express their opinions and suggestions.
• The Program of support to members of the striking movement as well as citizens and businesses affected by repressions provides for the reinstatement of dismissed protesters at work (at their request), reimbursement of financial costs due to termination of the contract, provision of deferred payments on mortgage loans, compensation to strike participants, refund of paid fines and much more.
• The concept of law reinstatement and national reconciliation was developed by the Coordination Council. The concept envisages bridging the split between Belarusian society and representatives of government and administration, including government bodies, the legal system, science, education, and healthcare systems at all levels, law enforcement agencies, state-controlled business entities, and the media.
• To ensure that the new elections in Belarus are transparent and open, four directions need to be elaborated: independent observation, formation of election commissions, vote counting, and the registration of candidates. For each of the directions, a Draft regulation has been formed, which guarantees the holding of fair and free elections:

1. Draft regulation on the formation of election commissions. 
2. Draft provision on election observation.
3. Draft regulation on the collection and verification of signatures.
4. Draft provision on vote counting in elections.

Key working meetings and forums

• Vienna hosted a high-level conference on Belarus, organized with the participation of the Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office. High-level European politicians discussed further steps to resolve the Belarusian crisis. They rejected the possibility of returning to the pre-2020 status quo.
• Vilnius hosted the conference of the Belarusian diaspora. Belarusians from 27 countries took part. The leaders of the democratic forces gathered at the conference three times to ensure a common strategy.
• The OST economic group held the Belarus Business Forum to answer the questions: how to save Belarusian business now and ensure Belarus economic growth in the future?
• Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya initiated the international conference “Democratic Elections for Resolution of the Crisis in Belarus”. The conference was held to discuss the possibility of early presidential elections in Belarus as a way to resolve the crisis, as well as their organization.
• Vilnius hosted the Kalinowski Forum organized by the Seimas of Lithuania in cooperation with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office. Within the framework of the forum, world politicians and experts discussed the situation in Belarus and developed a common strategy on how to facilitate the resolution of the crisis.
• The Solidarity Platform conference brought together 28 civic initiatives. The meeting was attended by dozens of representatives of foundations, initiatives, and structures that help Belarusians resist crackdown, receive help, spread the truth, and support each other.
• At the invitation of US President Joe Biden, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya spoke at the Summit for Democracy.
  She also spoke at the Council of EU Foreign Ministers after the hijacking of the Ryanair plane and negotiated with the EU leadership ahead of the Eastern Partnership summit.
• Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda and Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Czech Prime Minister Edi Rama and President Milos Zeman, Icelandic President Gudni Johannesson and Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová, Slovenian President Borut Pahor, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellors Sebastian Kurz, Alexander Schallenberg and Karl Nehammer, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin, President of the Council of Europe Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, President of the OSCE PA Margareta Cederfelt and Secretary General Roberto Montell, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya held negotiations with the leadership of the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the European Investment Bank (Vice-President Teresa Chervinska), and the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Odile Renault-Basso, management of Raiffeisen Bank and Ryanair, addressed the UN Security Council and delivered a keynote address at the plenary session of the European Parliament.
• The UN Human Rights Council launched a special mechanism for documenting human rights violations. An ad hoc group of experts is working on a report that could launch an international tribunal over the regime. The International Accountability Platform for Belarus (IAPB) collects evidence of the regime's crimes.
• Caucuses for a democratic Belarus were created in the US House of Representatives and Senate, as well as in 20 parliaments of other countries. The Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe claimed their support for new elections in Belarus.

New projects

• Spotlight of the Regions. About 2000 people shared information via the chatbot. The project has released 9 coverages and 3 programs on YouTube.
• Freedom postcards. This initiative by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office volunteers sends postcards, T-shirts, and tote bags with political prisoners’ drawings worldwide in exchange for donations. The project has raised about 7000 euros in donations, which were redirected for the Letters in Grid initiative.
• Khvalya is a series of masterclasses that cover how to start blogs and media from scratch and counteract propaganda. Volunteers and activists are trained on how propaganda works, how to recognize fake news, and how to create and promote their own media. Soon Khvalya will launch open masterclasses on YouTube.
• A security guide and a related self-check test from the volunteers of the Tsikhanouskaya Office were published.
• Solidarity Hub is an offline space in Vilnius for activists, civic initiatives, and the media. The hub assists projects aimed at developing civil society, raising awareness and supporting Belarusians, establishing cooperation and interaction between various initiatives and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Office.
• Solidarity Platform – https://belarusplatform.org – brings together initiatives verified by the Office to support the protest movement. Anyone can join them and contribute to the extent of their capacity.
• The Solidarity Platform has also launched its Telegram channel to share vacancies, guides on initiatives, opportunities for skill training and personal development, and other news.
• To contact the Office, use the channels listed on the website, as well as the Telegram chatbot.
• There is a separate chatbot for local community activists in Belarus.