“Dear President Kox,
Madam Secretary Buric,
Rapporteur Paul Galles,
Excellencies, friends,
It’s an honor for me to address the Assembly. Thank you, Mr Galles, for your tremendous work preparing the report and the draft resolution.
This is a visionary resolution. Rapporteur Galles captured the truth of our story and offered crucial recommendations.
For the true statesmen among you, I urge you to vote for it here. Then take this framework to the subcommittees. And then to the floors of your parliaments.
Not only because this will help Belarusians who are suffering and deserve your help. But because by doing so, you'll be making Europe safer for your own countries.
The report recognizes the basic facts that Belarusians have already proven their adherence to the European values of freedom and democracy.
First, in our peaceful 2020 uprising. And then in our opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
But it didn't come cheap.
At home, Belarusians are suffering from repressions and the ethnocide of our identity.
Abroad, Belarusians are dealing with the hard reality of displacement. Expired passports. Denied bank accounts. Children deprived of schooling.
Nevertheless, they contribute to the societies that have kindly accepted them.
Meet Iryna Kozikava and her husband Yury – Belarusian lawyers living in exile in Warsaw. Iryna is the sister of Maksim Znak. Maksim was my campaign attorney. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Yury represented other political prisoners. He was detained and their house was searched. They had to flee Belarus with a carry-on bag in one hand and a child in another. They were lucky to have a Polish visa.
Now, Iryna works with the Belarusian PEN center, a union of journalists, takes classes at Warsaw University to join the bar in Poland and makes traditional ceramics as a hobby. Yury works with ABBA – an organization uniting Belarusian business. Their only desire is to come back home and see Iryna’s brother Maksim free.
Just like thousands of Belarusians abroad, they are grateful to the countries that have welcomed them. In particular, to the Polish and Lithuanian MPs in this hall, Belarusians applaud your help. I want to pass ačiū and dziękuję from them.
Just like thousands of Belarusians abroad, they are professionals paying taxes. They are not a burden, they are not a security risk. They are not taking jobs. They are creating them. Professionals like Iryna and Yury are the reason that, for example, two out of top three IT-companies in Lithuania are Belarusian.
Belarusians abroad know that the alternative could be a prison cell – just like for thousands of Belarusians at home.
At home, about 15 people are detained every day. I haven’t heard from my husband since March. We don’t even know if Viktar Babaryka is alive.
At home, the regime wants to erase our identity. Speaking Belarusian – our own language – is enough of a reason for the police to search your phone on the street. The street names themselves are converted into Russian. History books are rewritten.
At home, the regime is selling away our sovereignty. Russian military prosecution offices are being opened across the country.
Those problems at our home are a real risk to your security abroad. Just last week, Putin confirmed that nuclear weapons were transferred to Belarus. This deployment not only threatens the continent but primarily our sovereignty. This is an attempt to perpetuate the dependence of Belarus on Russia. And it needs the most robust possible reaction of the world.
This is an non-conventional situation. It requires non-conventional solutions.
Thank you, Rapporteur Galles for bringing this report together and proposing practical steps to support Belarusians.
Thank you for distinguishing between the people and the regime.
For suggesting to improve access to humanitarian visas for Belarusians inside the country. For many – it is the only chance to avoid prison.
For suggesting to help the soon-to-be-released political prisoners.
For worrying about our thousands of hardworking Irynas and Yuris – our lawyers, entrepreneurs, and journalists. For helping us preserve our Belarusian culture abroad. For strengthening your own societies in the process.
Secretary Buric, thank you for your leadership. I know it is difficult. But you and your colleagues such as President Kox recognize the historic responsibility.
You have achievements to be proud of! The Council of Europe has become a place for unprecedented solutions. In March 2022, you expelled the regime envoys. In September 2022, the Council of Europe created a Contact Group on Belarus to work with the democratic representatives. In November, Secretary Buric and I launched the first meeting. Now, representative Galles prepared a report. It's a good dynamic!
Ladies and gentlemen, dear excellencies,
We all dream about the same – living in freedom, peace, and democracy. Europe should not have a place for tyranny and oppression. Europe should not tolerate any attempt to undermine our values and ideals. The regimes of Putin and Lukashenka are the biggest threat to our continent, and they must be confronted with decisiveness.
Don’t allow even think about making a compromise with tyranny.
Stand united in support of free Ukraine and free Belarus. Provide Ukraine with all the help it needs to win this war. But also help Belarusians to win our country back.
But even victory is not enough. We will be able to say that the war is finally over only when all perpetrators are brought to justice. Therefore, I ask you to employ all existing mechanisms to bring Lukashenka’s regime to account. Through International Criminal Court, Universal Jurisdiction, and International Tribunal. Dictators might want to have security guarantees for them. The only guarantee we should offer them is the guarantee of a fair trial.
Restoring justice, conducting democratic reforms will pave the way for Belarus to Europe, where it truly belongs. Support our call for Belarus membership in the Council of Europe. We should not be waiting until the regime collapses. We can formalize our relationship already today. Work with the United Transitional Cabinet as true representatives of the Belarusian people.
This way, step by step, we’ll return Belarus to Europe.
Step by step. Крок за крокам – like we say in Belarus. Крок за кроком – like our friends say in Ukraine. Krok po kroku – like they do in Poland. We're all one Europe.
This resolution is one of such first steps. It’s “soft law”.
Now it is up to your leadership. You can turn its recommendations into “hard” law. To match the hard reality of Belarusians at home and abroad.
What is the point of having 17 Friends of Belarus groups across European legislatures? If not taking this framework to the floors of your parliaments. If not promoting daring initiatives for your own security and the rights of Belarusians – like providing alternative passports for those unable to return home.
What is the point of having godparenthood over political prisoners? If not helping their relatives get a visa. If not creating a rehabilitation program for the 300-400 political prisoners that are soon to be released?
So let us start today. Please join us in supporting the resolution that strives to make lives easier for hundreds of thousands of Irynas and Yurys abroad.
Help us make another krok, one step, to the vision of peace and democracy for the 9 million Belarusians who have earned and defended their right place in the European family of nations.
So that we all can feel at home in a peaceful and free Europe.
Thank you!”
