In an interview with the Belarusian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Director of the Office of Belarus Democratic Forces in the Czech Republic talked about the efforts to resolve the problems faced by Belarusians, explained how the recently launched mission works, and highlighted its capabilities.
📌 “Sometimes we naively expect the European officials to think the same way we do. But it often takes more than a month to explain the issues facing the Belarusian community. But once we can draw attention to the problem, we need to gather practical information to seek solutions together with the Czech authorities and officials”.
📌 “Our office in the Czech Republic is registered as an institution. This form gives us the legal status and opportunity to work on projects within the so-called ‘third sector’. We can partner with well-known Czech organizations, assist them with their projects and initiatives, and sometimes provide a new perspective”.
📌 “Czechia has several programs aimed at Belarus. Some of them focus on assisting and rehabilitating former political prisoners. This is an area where we can be useful because we are in close contact with the people who are being released from prisons”.
📌 “People often turn to us with issues they would normally bring to the embassy. We strive to help in such situations. There are some issues we can’t resolve, so we have built contacts with other organizations to whom we can refer these issues”.
📌 “Some ministries perceive us as partners. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a two-way dialogue, including on passport issues. They always try to hear us and remain open to our proposals”.
The full interview is available at the link.
