Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Diplomatic Advisor, Dzianis Kuchynski, met in Vilnius with a delegation from the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, including the Committee Chair, Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix, and Committee members César Sánchez Pérez, Txema Guijarro García, and Diego Taibo Monelos. The Ambassador of Spain to Lithuania, José Fernando Fernández-Aguayo Muñoz, also attended the meeting.
The parties discussed:
- parliamentary cooperation. Mr. Kuchynski proposed developing direct ties with the Spanish Parliament and establishing a “For a Democratic Belarus” group in the Congress of Deputies. A similar group already operates in the Spanish Senate;
- legal status of Belarusians in Spain. Dzianis Kuchynski raised the issue of travel documents for Belarusians who cannot safely return to Belarus to renew an expired passport. He called on Spain not to require documents issued by the authorities in Belarus for legal purposes and to seek more flexible and secure solutions;
- support for political prisoners. Mr. Kuchynski invited Spanish MPs to join the Libereco campaign and assume symbolic godparenthood of political prisoners, write letters to them, raise their cases publicly, and support families affected by repression;
- International Humanitarian Fund. Mr. Kuchynski thanked Spain for joining the International Humanitarian Fund to support people affected by repression in Belarus and for its contributions. He called for continued support. Ambassador Fernández-Aguayo Muñoz announced Spain’s second contribution to the IHF in the near future;
- sanctions and pressure on the regime. Dzianis Kuchynski thanked Spain for its position on the EU sanctions policy. He stressed that the releases of political prisoners must continue, but that individual releases do not mean that systemic repression has ended and should not lead to a premature easing of pressure on the regime.
The parties also discussed support for independent Belarusian media and efforts to counter disinformation and keep Belarus on the international agenda. Other issues discussed included cooperation in business, culture, education, and expert diplomacy, as well as Belarus’s role in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine and regional security.
Dzianis Kuchynski: “Spain plays an important role in supporting democratic Belarus, both at the EU level and through its Parliament. We should both keep Belarus on the international agenda and build long-term ties between parliaments, universities, experts, media, businesses, and civil society. Political prisoners and Belarusians who cannot safely return home, even to renew their documents, are a particular priority. We are grateful to Spain for its consistent support for democratic Belarus and Belarusians and look forward to further developing our cooperation”.
