Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya participated in the side event on Belarus during the Munich Security Conference, the topic of discussion was “Belarus and European Regional Security”:
“Dear professor Rainer Lindner,
Dear excellencies,
Dear friends of free Belarus.
There is no better place to discuss the Belarus situation than at the Munich Security Conference. Let me thank the Minsk Forum and its leader Rainer Lindner, for organizing this timely discussion. Thanks also to ISANS for joining this conversation on security and the future of Europe.
The shocking news of Navalny’s death is a dark reminder that security, democracy, and human rights are interconnected. There will not be security without humanity, and vice versa.
We don’t have doubts who is responsible for Navalny’s death. He was murdered by Putin’s regime. It’s a reminder to the entire world that dictators don’t have limits. They don’t have humanity.
Dictators won’t stop until we stop them.
We are worried about the lives of thousands of our Belarusian political prisoners. Many are held incommunicado and we don’t know if they are still alive. Among them is my husband Siarhei, Nobel peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, Masha Kalesnikava, and many others.
We must prevent more deaths in prisons. It’s the moment for the democratic world to demonstrate unity but also bravery. The response to atrocities committed by Lukashenka’s and Putin’s regime must be resolute.
This response must include devastating sanctions on these regimes, but also assistance to all those who fearlessly fight against them. It’s time for democracies to show their teeth.
We must isolate two dictators, deprive them of resources, and make them pay for every crime they have committed: against Ukrainians, against Belarusians. Against international peace and order.
It’s time to support Ukrainians in their fight for freedom, but also Belarusians. As we speak, many of them are fighting for Ukraine on the battlefields. Many of them are participating in underground resistance inside Belarus.
But as we isolate dictators, we should not isolate the people. Belarusians want to see an alternative to the Russian world. And in the European future, membership in the European Union and Council of Europe is such an alternative.
I do believe that changes in Belarus can also impact the situation in Russia. Because Belarus is of strategic importance for Putin’s war machine. But also, it is its weakest link. Taking Belarus out of war, will disrupt Putin’s plans on Ukraine, but also will make further aggression against the Western countries unlikely.
Belarus under Lukashenka will be a constant threat to European and international security, source of threat and instability. Without a democratic Belarus, and free Belarus, there won’t be peace and security for Europe.
Therefore, supporting the democratic changes in Belarus, is not a charity, but an investment in a safe and peaceful Europe.
Dear friends,
To win this difficult and rightful fight, we need the strategy and concrete plan of action. And I hope to hear during these discussions concrete ideas, that will help us to return Belarus to democracy, and return peace to Europe.
Thank you”.
