“Honorary guests, dear friends,
Representatives of Friedrich Naumann Foundation
I will be speaking today about something that is very dear to my heart – freedom.
The fight for freedom is often romanticized. We all remember the beautiful pictures of mass protests in Belarus, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets. We remember fearless women on the frontline, on the journey to victory.
However, there is another, darker picture of this struggle because the road to freedom is paved with pain, tears, and suffering.
It’s hard to be optimistic when you know that at this very moment one of your friends is being tortured by the KGB, and that another might face the death penalty for opposing dictatorship.
It’s hard to be optimistic when your friends have to flee the country they love.
And it’s hard to stay optimistic when you have to explain to your kids that their daddy has been sentenced to 19 years in prison just because he dares to challenge a dictator.
Yes, it's hard. But this pain and hardship will not stop us from doing the right thing. Indeed these hardships have become part of my motivation. When I wake up every morning I think about those in prison and ask myself: what can I do today to help set them free?
Belarusian human rights defender and Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski rightly noted: ”It just so happens that people who value freedom the most are often deprived of it.”
Ales is a living example of this. He had been working for democratic change in Belarus for three decades. For this heroic work, last month, he was sentenced to 10 years.
Ales knows that in dictatorships freedom is never given, it must be fought for and won. And freedom is not guaranteed forever. It can be stolen, in the blink of an eye.
Belarusians have been denied freedom for so long that they have almost forgotten what it feels like to be free.
Here in Berlin, in the city of politics and passion, you know how fragile freedom can be. This city has seen the best of humanity and the very worst. It has witnessed suffering and destruction. But it has risen again, reinventing itself in its quest for justice, for progress and for freedom.
I remember my first time in Berlin – I went straight to look at the Berlin Wall. A place where the will of people led them to tear down their prison wall. It is the place where good triumphed over evil.
And it gives me hope that the good will triumph in Belarus as well, and we will tear down the wall too.Dear friends,
The journey that has brought me here might sound unreal, but I can assure you it is not. Before 2020, my life was just like the lives of many Belarusians. I was just another ordinary person, a loving mother and dutiful wife.
Living in the south of the country, close to Ukraine, which was badly affected by Chernobyl. Along with other children, I was lucky to be invited by a charity organisation, to Ireland. I arrived into the warm embrace of a wonderful family. They opened their hearts and gave us Belarusian kids a new sense of freedom.
Later, as a mother, when I learned that my son was born with hearing difficulties, I stopped work and became a stay-at-home mum. I worked to find a solution for him. I was just doing what millions of mothers do, looking after their own.
My life was ordinary but my country was not. It is run by a cruel dictator Lukashenka who came to power almost 30 years ago. First he changed the constitution, then dismissed the parliament, gradually took control of the media and suppressed all dissent.
I was not thinking about the kind of country I was living in. I couldn’t see the walls closing in and our country was turning into one big prison, where even whispering the word “freedom” can land you in jail.
In 2020 my husband Siarhei decided to challenge Lukashenka by running for the presidency. Lukashenka ordered the secret police to lock him up, along with every other political opponent. But as so often with the regime, they overlooked the wife. (That often seems to happen with women.)
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. 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. It was a turning point. “We are born”, said one of the signs of the protests. We were reborn as a nation, and as a people.
It was a remarkable, peaceful uprising of the ordinary citizens. We chose freedom over tyranny, truth over lies, and light over darkness.
I will never forget those beautiful women with flowers, standing in defiance in front of the armed brutes hiding in their black balaclavas.
I will never forget the sight of that lone woman, Nina Baginskaya, defiantly waving her flag in front of policemen. They didn’t know what to do.
Each day they would confiscate her flag and detain her, a 73 year old lady, only to see her the next day, fearless and brave, waving a new flag in front of them.
The terror that was unleashed later was merciless. Thousands were detained, tortured, beaten, humiliated, and raped in prisons. People were held for days without food, water or medical treatment. Deprived of sleep in overcrowded cells. They suffered endless interrogations.
People with broken legs and bullet wounds were begging for mercy. But the regime’s henchmen laughed at them: “Tsikhanouskaya will not help you now”.
This living nightmare in the heart of Europe continues to this day.
Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians had to flee repressions. Just like those heroic escapes from East Berlin, people risked their lives to leave. Across rivers, and swamps, through forests and checkpoints, people would pay any price for the chance to be free.
It was not their choice to leave their country. It wasn’t mine either. In a small room in a government building, I was threatened by a KGB officer. I was told that I had to leave or I would never see my children again. A few hours later, they took me to the Lithuanian border. Lithuania welcomed me and it’s been my second home ever since.
The regime hoped to get rid of me. But I continued my fight in exile. I represent Belarus on the international stage, doing my best to help all those on the ground who continue the fight.
Hundreds of NGOs, and media, who were chased out of the country by the regime, continue their work in exile. But we all share the same dream: to return home, to our beloved Belarus.
From outside, it might seem that the dictator won. Obviously, you can’t see the beautiful protests on the streets anymore. It became too dangerous. For any sign of disobedience, you can be jailed by 10, 15 or 20 years. The protest went completely underground, and people still find the way to keep the regime in stress.
The level of repression shows the vulnerability of the regime. It did not manage to turn the page and take the situation under control. It has to increase repressions because it understands: when repressions stop, thousands of people will come to streets again.
I must admit: sometimes, I also have moments when I am frozen with fear and frustration. In these moments I think about my husband and thousands of political prisoners. They are behind prison walls. But within their deep Belarusian souls, they are free.
One of my great inspirations is Maria Kalesnikava. You probably remember her for her endless optimism and red lipstick which she wore at every rally. Today she is celebrating her 41st birthday, it’s her third birthday behind bars. She was sentenced to 11 years. But prison did not break her. She still smiles and uses her red lipstick. It is her own protest against the regime’s brutality. She is stronger than all of the policemen. They must hate that.
We all hoped our victory would come faster. Now we realize that our fight for freedom is not a sprint, it is a marathon. And we must be patient but consistent. Because those people behind bars and prison walls are counting on us.
My husband Siarhei once sent me a poem from the prison. He wanted to address those who are losing hope.
“I recently found out
That there are those who are tired.
It's easy for me to imagine
How hard it is for you!
If it seems that
You are deprived of everything,
Look out the window –
Look out the window…
And look at us –
Those who are in prison now.
Our windows are behind bars
And we see nothing.”
Whilst they are locked up and suffering, we shall never stop fighting for Belarus, for our dreams and hopes. And for the liberation of all our freedom fighters. Ladies and gentlemen,
Tyranny is like cancer. Unless it is completely removed, it returns and is more aggressive than before.
After Lukashenka stole the elections and unleashed terror against Belarusians, he became more and more bold. When he saw such cautious reactions from the West, he threatened European security by hijacking an airplane. Then he orchestrated the migrant crisis on the border with Poland and Lithuania. And now he has enabled Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Lukashenka hoped that the Russian-Ukrainian war would take attention away from Belarus' internal situation. So then he would stay in power forever. He also knows that without Putin, he would not survive a single day. That is why he allowed Russian troops to enter Belarus and fully supported Putin’s assault.
Last year on February 24, we woke up to a new reality. Despite the will of people, Belarus has become the launch pad for Russian tanks and missiles. For 8 months in a row, every week, Russian rockets were launched from our territory and killed innocent Ukrainians.
Putin wanted to make Ukraine just like Belarus today: a fully controlled puppet state with the weak and submissive government. But in contrast to Lukashenka, who bowed down to Putin, the Ukrainian government and the people stood up to defend their country. The whole world is inspired by Ukraine’s determination.
One month ago, both dictators announced their plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus. If it happens it would make 9 million Belarusians hostages of two criminal regimes. And it would create the source of constant threat for Ukraine and Europe and beyond.
But the worst part of that: it would secure Russian control over Belarus for years, and we must not allow this to happen.
In 2020, we were fighting for free and fair elections. Now we are fighting for our sovereignty and the very existence of Belarus.
The fates of Belarus and Ukraine are intertwined. There will not be free Belarus without free Ukraine, and there will never be a safe Ukraine without free Belarus either.
As Ukrainians fight every day for their freedom. I am proud to say that Belarusians are fighting alongside them. Hundreds of Belarusian volunteers are fighting in Bakhmut and other Ukrainian cities. They have fought and died while defending Ukraine and freedom. They know that in liberating Ukraine, they also liberate Belarus.
But the fight goes on in Belarus too. Many activists in Belarus are joining the partisan movement. Belarusian partisans continue to sabotage the railways and slow down Russian troops. They ensure that the Russian army will never feel safe on our land.
Belarusians have also created a network of volunteers to observe troop movements and report them to the Ukrainian Army.
Every month, despite brutal repression, Belarusians show their defiance and courage. The are pay a big price for that. On average 17 people are detained every day for anti-war and anti-regime protests.
A man was sentenced to 5 years for donating 20 euro to Belarusian volunteers fighters in Ukraine. Before that he was interrogated by the KGB and tortured.
Danuta Pieradnia, a young, gifted student, was sentenced to 6,5 years for sharing a message criticizing Putin’s war against Ukraine. Instead of enjoying her youth, she now has to suffer in jail.
Or take the story of Vital Melnik, the father of a little child, who was sentenced to 13 years. He disabled the railway signaling system and prevented Russian soldiers from shooting Ukrainians. For that, Belarusian police shot him in the knee joints and dragged him from his family.
Belarusians clearly showed that they stand with Ukraine and don’t support the war. That is why it is important to separate. It is Lukashenka’s regime that supports Russia’s genocidal war, and NOT the people of Belarus.
I know that here in Germany, there is a discussion on the ways we need to help Ukraine. It’s simple. I believe that we have to give Ukraine everything it needs to win this war.
Free Belarus will be a great help to Ukraine and the strongest sanction against Putin.Dear excellencies,
What bothers me a lot is the question of how we came to where we are, and what we can do differently now.
How could we allow such tyranny in the 21st century? This should be the era of economic prosperity, digital democracy and free trade.
How could we allow this tyrant in front of the eyes of the entire world to illegally seize power, and terrorize his neighbours and the entire continent?
How could we have been so powerless to allow him to decide that he could easily tear off the part of another country?
I will try to answer the questions. I think we did not learn from lessons of the past. We did not learn the lessons this city has to teach us.
We did not learn to separate good from evil. We were too focused on solving domestic problems while the cancer of tyranny was growing in the neighborhood.
The policy of western democracies began to turn from values-based to interest-based. In the race for short-term gains, we forgot about what brought us together in the first place.
We forgot that everything in this world is interconnected. It is the butterfly effect. When we let the small evil prevail, it grows into a much greater evil.
The fight for freedom is a global one. We cannot win it alone. Democracy wins when we all stand together and confront tyranny. No matter where or when it appears.
If we give in to dictators and allow them to terrorise their people, they will go on to threaten their neighbors and then the whole world. This is what has happened in Belarus.
Politicians often try to close the issue but not to solve the problem. It is just delaying the catastrophe we have right now.
We must remember that tyrants can not be appeased or reeducated. They see any attempts to make a deal as a weakness. Democracies must show their teeth.
The fight for freedom should take place non-stop, and be our full time job. It can’t be done on weekends or in breaks between “serious stuff”.
Freedom can not be taken for granted. It must be seized by citizen engagement and active participation. Therefore, we must strengthen our democratic institutions, and create working mechanisms that don’t allow anyone to misuse and abduct our freedoms.
What we see today is not just a fight between the good and the evil. It is also the fight between the past and the future.
The evil past is trying to drag us back in times of Cold War, arms race, geopolitical conflicts. Back to the time when we were focused on big issues, but not on humans and individuals. We should never forget that in the end it’s people and their lives that matter the most.Dear friends,
Standing here, I feel like I am among friends. And I want all of you to become friends of free Belarus today.
I understand that no one will change the situation in our country for us. It’s our task. But with your help it will be faster and easier.
I call on you to continue supporting Belarus’ and Ukraine’s fight for freedom. By doing that, you are also defending Europe’s future.
Provide assistance to Belarusian freedom fighters who are on the frontlines and in the underground. Support everyone who works for democratic changes in Belarus. This will be your contribution to security and democracy across Europe.
Open your doors to those Belarusians who are fleeing repressions. People must know that they have friends here and a safe place to escape this nightmare.
Express your solidarity. Even small messages of support and attention give people power to continue the fight for freedom. It can be a letter to a political prisoner or Belarusian flag in the window. Every action matters.
Help us to bring the regime’s thugs to accountability. They must know that each crime is being documented and will be punished.
We must demand the tribunal not only over Putin, but also for his puppet, Lukashenka. We must stop impunity. We do not seek revenge, we seek justice.
Just as you brought down the wall here in Berlin, I know that we will bring down the walls that imprison my husband and so many others.
Walls are built to stop us from moving freely, but they can not imprison our minds and our to desire for freedom. Belarusian athlete Aleksei Kudin who was recently released from prison, said about his imprisonment:
“Spiritually I have become even richer and stronger. They believe they put me in prison, but in fact they only strengthened my faith in the righteous fight for freedom”.
I truly believe that Belarus will become a success story, a precedent, an example for others to be emulated. It is not enough to defend democracy. We need to advance democracy. We need to live democracy. We owe the next generation an inspiring narrative of successful Europe. Europe free of tyranny and oppression.
I would like to end this speech, as it began, with a quote from Ales Bialiatski.
“I have faith because I know that the night ends and then the morning light comes. I know that what pushes us forward tirelessly is hope and a dream” .
Thank you”.
