Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is in Lisbon with a working visit. Yesterday she held working meetings with Prime Minister António Costa, Minister of Foreign Affairs Augusto Santos Silva, and other Portuguese politicians.
During the meetings, the democratic leader of Belarus:
- thanked Portugal for support – from the beginning of August, Assembleia da República has adopted 3 resolutions in support of the democratic movement in Belarus;
- discussed political prisoners, prosecution of human rights defenders and employees of the human rights center “Viasna”, new criminal cases and attacks on independent media;
- called on Portugal, the current EU President, to make solving the Belarusian crisis a priority. For that, the new presidential election in Belarus must be held in the autumn of 2021 in Belarus;
- offered to hold the next European Council on Foreign Relations, which will take place on March 25th, with the representatives of the democratic movement of Belarus;
- emphasized the importance of the isolation of Lukashenka's regime and pressuring it. The discussions during the meetings included the topic sanctions – how to make them more effective and tangible for the regime;
- discussed the development of a European Parliament special mission to solve the Belarusian crisis;
- talked about the Comprehensive Plan of support for Belarus and about specific assistance to the independent media, laborers, lawyers, religious community representatives who suffered from the regime.
Belarus must be represented by the democratic movement and civil society representatives in the Eastern Partnership. It relates both to the Summit and EP economic programs.
Democracy and human rights are important values for Portugal as the country has lived over 40 years under Salazar's dictatorship. The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of a peaceful transition from Lukashenka's regime to democracy and support in holding new elections.
During the meeting with the President of Foreign Affairs and Portugal Communities Committee Sergio Sousa Pinto, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya discussed the development of a working group in the Portuguese Parliament to help Belarus: mentoring over political prisoners and supporting the civil society.
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