The meeting was attended by Belarus’ National Leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, her deputies in the United Transitional Cabinet Pavel Latushka and Valery Kavaleuski, the Deputy Representative for Foreign Affairs at the Cabinet Vladzimir Astapenka, members of the Coordination Council and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office, as well as representatives of the Belarusian civil society, independent media, human rights organizations, and business associations.
The parties discussed the threat to Belarus posed by Russian armed forces and the potential placement of the Wagner group mercenaries, the illegal deployment of Russian nuclear weapons on the country's territory, the involvement of Lukashenka's regime in aggression against Ukraine, and other issues. The discussions also focused on ways to implement the New Belarus Passport project, which the United Transitional Cabinet is developing.
In her opening remarks, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya urged Belarus’ democratic forces and European partners to look for solutions both addressing urgent ongoing issues and facilitating the planning of the transitional period and initial reforms in democratic Belarus.
“The European perspective for Belarus is a standalone strategic priority that may be implemented jointly with the Group in a comprehensive and systematic manner”, noted Ms. Tsikhanouskaya.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke about the need for swift and decisive actions and proposed to Josep Borrell to appoint an EU Special Representative for Belarus to address numerous challenges faced by Belarusians.
