“Thank you, Ambassador Mary Wheelan, for your kind introduction.
Dear excellencies, Dear friends,
Thank you for inviting me to speak to you in these troubled times.
First of all, I wish to thank Irish people for awarding me the Tipperary Peace Prize. This award means a lot to me and to my countrymen. Especially now, when Belarus is not so high on the world’s agenda, as it used to be and should be. I take this award as the recognition of the Belarusian people’s ongoing fight for freedom.
I am so pleased to come back to Ireland. Ireland is and will always be in my heart. I came here as a child and it made a huge impression on me. Here, I learned many things. I saw what life in Belarus might look like. Ireland impacted my life and my views. I also see many historical parallels between our countries. Both our nations over the centuries were fighting for freedom and independence, for our language and identity. For us, this fight is still going on.
Today, the situation in Belarus is probably the worst since 2020. Our country is gradually losing its independence. The creeping occupation of Belarus is taking place. With Lukashenka’s help, Putin is trying to establish full control over Belarus. All those who dissent and oppose are thrown into jail. Then they are humiliated and tortured.
Just last week, former presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka was brought from prison to the hospital so badly beaten that the doctors couldn’t recognize him. We are still lacking information about his condition. He is one of the dictator’s main rivals and he suffers Lukashenka’s revenge. There are so many others suffering the same fate because they raised their voice for freedom. We are demanding to allow his family and western diplomats to see him, to make sure he is alive and healthy.
Yesterday, on World Press Freedom Day, the regime celebrated by sentencing three journalists to up to 20 years in prison for doing their job. Two were sentenced in absentia. The third, Raman Pratasevich, has been held by the regime since they hijacked a Ryanair flight bound for Vilnius in 2021 to capture him and his girlfriend. Lukashenka’s state terrorists risked many lives on an international flight just to arrest Raman.
Unfortunately, despite the malicious violation of international law, the regime was never punished for the hijacking of the plane. Neither have the judges who take part in the persecution of journalists and thousands of others imprisoned for political reasons.
Now, I ask you to imagine waking up in a small, damp cell in a KGB prison from Soviet times, where the smallest mistake or wrong word can give them an excuse to submit you to the most inhuman torture. No matter how many years they gave you, it won’t make any difference, as they will just add more years on top of it if they want to.
Recently, the son of my representative on constitutional reform Anatol Liabedzka was detained and they started a criminal case against him. Pure revenge.
For all these innocent prisoners in the dark cells, we are the only hope. We have to continue the fight every day for their release. Every day for us in freedom is another day of suffering for them.
People are detained and imprisoned on a regular basis: on average, 17 people every day. Among them, journalists, students, teachers, doctors, even government officials or military who supported the protests in 2020 or stood up against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The KGB infiltrates online communities, trying to trace and punish all the dissent.
Human rights defenders already lost count of how many prisoners are in jail. We know the names of 1500, but the real number is more like 5000. There are at least 25 senior citizens among them, and 74 people have disabilities and serious illnesses, including cancer, diabetes, asthma, epilepsy and mental health problems. They don’t receive proper medical treatment.
The oldest Belarusian political prisoner that we know of is Natallia Taran, she is 75 years old. She is serving a 3,5 years prison term for “insulting officials”.
For a month already, I have not heard anything from my husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski sentenced to 19,5 years. His new lawyer is not allowed to see him. It seems the regime now has extra torture for political prisoners: As well as denying them warm clothes, proper bedding and medical care, now they deny them information.
Lawyers have become the latest targets. Those who defend political prisoners are often jailed. In Minsk, for example, it’s already impossible to find a lawyer to represent you in a political case.
Besides intensified repressions, we see another trend. Propaganda media began to dominate the information space. They spread anti-western and anti-Ukrainian narratives, justifying the war in Ukraine. They try to convince Belarusians that Russian nuclear weapons are a good thing for the country. While the absolute majority of Belarusians are strongly against it.
Today, we’re witnessing the creeping occupation of Belarus by Russia. Last year, Lukashenka allowed the deployment of Russian troops and enabled the Russian assault on Ukraine.
Now, he continues to send to Russia weapons, ammunition, armor and vehicles. He provides Russia with training facilities and military bases. Up to five thousand Russian soldiers are stationed in Belarus. They rotate regularly. After training, they are sent to fight against Ukrainians.
Lukashenka is Putin’s puppet, he follows every order. Last month, Lukashenka met with Pushilin, a pro-Russian separatist leader. The submissive dictator has to constantly demonstrate his loyalty to Putin, because without Putins support, he will lose power overnight.
In March, Putin and Lukashenka announced plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus. This would be the first spread of nuclear weapons in Europe since the non-proliferation agreement. We must not allow this to happen. It is a great threat to regional security, but also because it means Russian control over Belarus for years to come. It directly violates our constitution.
However, it is crucial to discern between the Belarusian people and Lukashenka’s regime. Belarusians demonstrated their clear stance: we are against this war. We do support Ukraine. According to polls, 86% of Belarusians are against participation in the war. It also makes Belarus’ situation very different from Russia where support for the war is evident.
Street protests, as we saw in 2020, are impossible right now. So our resistance went underground. Hundreds of thousands joined the partisan movement. In 2022 only, more than 80 acts of sabotage took place on railways to stop the advance of Russian troops.
Also we do all possible to keep democratic our forces united. Last year, we created the United Transitional Cabinet which works as the Government in exile, to coordinate the activities of Belarusians in exile and inside the country.
Our goal is to have a legitimate representative body which represents Belarus and Belarusian people on the international arena. And I am glad to see that more and more countries and international organizations are working with us, not with the criminal regime in Minsk. Last year, we established the formal contact group in the Council of Europe while representatives of the regime were kicked out from this organization.
Another important direction of the cabinet is to strengthen the national identity. I don’t need to explain it to Irish people. There is an ongoing attack on Belarusian culture, language and historical memory. We must not allow Belarus to be turned into a Russian province or colony. Strengthening Belarusianness is a key priority.
Dear friends,
I would like to share the key points for our efforts in the future. And I hope for your advice but also your help in their implementation.
- First, keeping Belarus and the political prisoners in the world’s agenda. We must make their release our common priority. Organizations such as the UN or OSCE can be more active in this direction.
- Second, the sanctions enforcement. Sanctions aim to weaken Lukashenka’s and Putin’s regime, but also to split the elites around them. However, sanctions do not work in full due to loopholes. The regime circumvents sanctions through Russia and other countries.
- Third, prosecuting Lukashenka and his cronies via existing mechanisms or creating new ones. We ask to establish the international tribunal not only against Putin but also against his puppet Lukashenka. He has a long record of crimes: crimes against humanity, hijacking the airplane, orchestrating migration crisis, complicity in war crimes.
- Fourth, supporting the Belarusian democratic movement. It’s crucial to help Belarusians in exile and provide assistance to our media and civil society.
- Fifth, provide a positive alternative to Belarusians. We have to promote the European choice for Belarus as an alternative to the “Russian World”. Belarusians should know that they are welcome in Europe.
I do believe that changes in Belarus can come sooner than changes in Russia. Changes in Belarus would be a great contribution to Ukraine’s victory as well. I do believe that the war will not be over until Belarus is free.
My dream is that Belarus will become a trusted, respected and valued member of the European family of free nations. We will bring back hundreds of thousands of Belarusians who’ve been forced to escape from the country because of the repressions.
Together, we will rebuild our country. This is the future that I see – and with your help, we will make it come true. There is still a long road ahead of us, but your solidarity gives us strength to go on.
Thank you!”
