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  • Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Any deal with the regime comes at the cost of thousands of lives in Belarus”

    December 15, 2022

    Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “For more than two years I have been talking about Belarus with international partners, some of whom sincerely wanted to help, while others were not much interested in the discussions. Without a doubt, there have been many more of the former. But there have also been the latter. At first, when meeting those who only agreed to meet as a courtesy, I thought: don't we, Belarusians, do enough, don't we deserve active support? Now I think differently: these people, institutions, and organizations have not yet looked into the future and have not discovered that Belarus is an essential political partner. Not the dictatorial regime, but democratic Belarus.

    Along the way, I have witnessed realpolitik, the approach of trading values for business and deals. But when it comes to Belarus and deals with the regime, this approach means any deal costs thousands of lives of innocent political prisoners and the memory of deceased protesters and warriors. A deal with the regime may satisfy someone's interests today, but it places the normal life of people in Belarus, Ukraine, and all of Europe on the shelf — not even for tomorrow, but most likely for years.

    The illegitimate regime in Belarus, by violence, has taken the entire country hostage. Therefore, any deal signed with it only extends the time of crime and military threat. With Lukashenka in power, our airspace is used to shell Ukraine, and the people of Belarus are being poisoned by Russian propaganda. He cannot provide security guarantees and fulfill his part of a "deal" — whenever he talks about negotiations and peace, the Kremlin launches new missiles from the Belarusian territory.

    Belarusians want to live in a country of peace, security, and lawfulness, not crisis, violence, and fear. Such a Belarus can guarantee that it will never be a co-aggressor in a war. Such a Belarus will be a part of the regional security system. Belarus can become such a country when it finally defends its independence and democracy. And we are not asking our international partners to do it for us, but are urging you not to make deals with the regime so that this goal remains within our reach.”

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