“Dear Mr. Martin Quinn, Honourable Secretary of Tipperary Peace Convention,
Dear Mr. minister Seán Fleming,
Dear Mr. Billy Kelleher,
Dear Senator Mark Daly,
Dear Mr. Guy Jones,
Dear friends,
It’s a great honor for me to receive the Tipperary Peace Award. To be among such prominent figures as Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, Ban Ki-moon, Malala Yousafzai and many others who were given this award before me.
And it’s an honor to receive it from such freedom loving and warm-hearted people like you.
You know that I have special feelings for Tipperary, for Ireland and its people. I was twelve when I first came to Ireland, to Roscrea. Along with other kids as part of the Chernobyl Lifeline Project.
It was there that Henry and Marian Deane gave us something we had never felt before. It was the kind of freedom that all kids need and love. We breathed this sweet fresh air, heard the birds sing, and for the first time we were in a different culture. We were opened up to different rules and different ways of looking at the world. People were friendly, warm and open.
Henry Deane, who is in this room today, gave us a second home and a second family. Two summers ago I returned to Ireland, for the first time since the elections and the crackdown in Belarus. You cannot imagine what I felt as we pulled up at the Deanes house. My heart was thumping. I had all the excitement and happiness of a daughter coming home. For a brief moment I was back in time; laughing, chatting, drinking loads of tea, and trying to get as much potato salad as I could get my hands on!
I must tell you, coming from a country that also loves its potatoes, that it was here that I learned another life lesson that has served me well; a crisp is different from a chip.
But the most important lesson I learned is what unites Ireland and Belarus. It is the thirst for freedom.
Ireland fought for centuries against an oppressor. Belarus is the same.
Ireland suffered cruelties beyond belief. Belarus is the same.
Your forefathers knew what it was like to be treated like servants, to see their language and culture crushed. Belarus is the same.
And you fought, and sacrificed until you achieved your freedom, your justice and your peace. Belarus will be the same.
Dear friends,
You must know by now that it is because of my husband Siarhei, that I am standing here. In 2020, he decided to challenge the dictator by running for the presidency. Lukashenka locked him up. But as so often with the regime, they overlooked me.
To support my husband I decided to run for the presidency in his place. As a joke, they registered me as a candidate. The dictator didn’t think a woman would have a chance. He said, ‘our constitution is not for women’.
Unfortunately for him, I won. We won. And for a brief moment we felt total joy and freedom. And as you also know, the dictator could not accept defeat.
Over the next few days, the streets of Minsk and other cities were flooded with people. Hundreds of thousands marched to protest against the stolen election. Belarusians shouted in one voice: Enough! Enough of the dictatorship! Enough of the oppression!
It was a remarkable, peaceful uprising of the ordinary citizens. We chose freedom over tyranny, truth over lies, and light over darkness.
The regime responded with cruelty and violence. Dozens of thousands were thrown to jail including my husband Siarhei, and my friend Maria Kalesnikava.
The arrests continue today. Armed people come to our houses and arrest us. They take parents away from their children. A few weeks ago, they jailed a son of my advisor Anatol Liabedzka, just for revenge.
They don’t need any reason to detain you. Maybe you wore the “wrong” color socks, or you liked the “wrong” post on social media. God forbid that you openly criticized the government or dared to protest against the war in Ukraine.
But the regime continues the tyranny because it knows that if we are free, they are finished, forever.
Nelson Mandela, who received your peace award in 1989, once said:
“No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails”.
Our best sons and daughters are jailed. What for? Because they want to live in peace and take the country forward. They are beaten, humiliated and raped in horrible Soviet era prisons. Why? Just because they reject the past and want only the future.
They cannot have any contact with the outside world. For almost a month, I did not hear any news from my husband, even to know if he was alive. For our regime every thought is political and every idea, a threat.
And now the suffering of political prisoners, and of nine million Belarusians, is joined by the suffering of Ukrainians.
When Putin began his bloody war, the fate of our two nations became more deeply intertwined. Though we have different contexts, we face the same enemy: the tyranny and imperialism of Russia.
In 2020 we were fighting for free and fair elections. Now we are fighting for the very existence of Belarus.
Lukashenka has traded our sovereignty for his own personal safety. He is allowing nuclear weapons to be placed on our soil… the same soil that was contaminated by the tragedy of Chernobyl. Imagine how we feel.
This is why I am proud of those Belarusians who resist. The volunteers who fight alongside Ukrainians in the trenches of Bahkmut. Cyber partisans who report on enemy troops and transport movements. Those who distribute newspapers to counter the regime’s propaganda.
Belarus is fighting for its life and we will do everything to bring victory closer. The lessons we learn from Ireland’s struggle, when you kept the spirit of freedom alive, are truly an inspiration.
Dear friends,
If you had told me 25 years ago that I would be speaking about peace and war here at Tipperary, I’d say: “You drank too much Guiness, my friend”.
But here I am today, among friends… among family. So I can tell it like it is: We cannot do it alone. We can only get out of this hell with the help of our friends. As I learned all those years ago, at the Deane’s house; “We all are in it together, you can rely on us”.
And we do need you. Belarus needs Ireland, like never before.
Dear excellencies,
Thank you from all of my heart for this precious award again. It is not just for myself, but for millions of freedom-loving Belarusians.
I want to dedicate this prize to all those, whose freedom was taken away. I dedicate this award to my husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski, sentenced to a 19,5 years imprisonment. To my friend Maryia Kalesnikava, 11 years imprisonment. To Victor Babaryka, 14 years, Ihar Losik, 15 years, Mikola Statkevich, 14 years. To the Nobel Peace prize winner Ales Bialiatski, 10 years imprisonment. To all the thousands of our political prisoners and to their families.
With this award, they will know that they are not alone in their struggle.
Because of this award, they will know that Ireland is standing with them.
At the protests in Belarus, we were chanting: “We believe, we can, we will win”. Seeing how much support we get from you and from people around the world, I have no doubt about our victory.
Thank you for your solidarity.
Eirin go bragh!
Long live Belarus!”
