The exhibition, titled “In the Name of the Belarusian People…”, opened in the Slavonic Library in Prague. It showcased dozens of unique documents and memorial items related to the activities of the Rada (Council) of the Belarusian Democratic Republic and individual members of the Belarusian diaspora in the 1920s and 1930s. The opening was attended by Czech Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jan Marian.
During the event, the Representative of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Office in the Czech Republic, Kryścina Šyjanok, noted that the opening of the exhibition coincided with the birthday of Vaclav Havel and quoted his words: “Where Belarus belongs and what political system it has depends primarily on Belarusians. Personally, I believe that Belarus, both mentally and geographically, belongs to the family of European democracies, and I would be happy to meet with Belarusian friends on the platform of the European Union sooner or later”.
Ms. Šyjanok emphasized that the current situation in Belarus is one of its kind: “We have the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, the oldest government in exile of all time, led by Ivonka Survila since 1997. At the same time, since 2020, we have a President-elect, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was expelled from Belarus but has managed to form the United Transitional Cabinet that de facto operates in exile. Besides, we have an illegitimate dictator who has maintained his power by force and dragged our homeland into Russian aggression in Ukraine”.
