Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya attended the Future of Democracy Forum in Vilnius, organized by Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event brought together politicians, diplomats, and MPs from around the world, including Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Head of the Community of Democracies, Mantas Adomėnas, Armenia’s National Security Council Secretary, Armen Grigoryan, EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, Polish Senate Deputy Marshal, Michał Kamiński, and members of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya delivered opening remarks, sharing what resisting tyranny in Belarus truly is about.
“Fighting tyranny is about knowing that at this moment, one of your friends is being tortured by the KGB.
Fighting tyranny is about being arrested months before a sham election because the authorities fear that people like you might take to the streets again.
Fighting tyranny is about explaining to your children that their father has been sentenced to 19 years in prison simply for wanting a better future for them.
Fighting tyranny is about being denied treatment even when you are suffering from the agony of stage 4 cancer – because you’re in prison. It’s about being kept incommunicado and not hearing a word from your family for a long time. It’s about the lawyer who defended being sentenced to five years.
Fighting tyranny is about your only son going to fight in Ukraine, knowing that without Ukraine’s victory, Belarus cannot be free.
Fighting tyranny is about being 77 years old and still going out every day with your national flag. Being arrested, released, spending the night sewing a new flag, and going back out again.
Fighting tyranny is about standing up against Russification and teaching your children to speak Belarusian because that is your culture, your identity.
Fighting tyranny is about working as a journalist, covering protests and speaking the truth, until one day, the KGB knocks on your door”.
During the event, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya also presented the Cross of Good Neighborhood to Gabrielius Landsbergis.
