The Belarusian leader expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister, Petteri Orpo, for Finland’s longstanding support for Belarus, including for educational and cultural projects, as well as scholarships for Belarusian human rights defenders.
During the meeting, the politicians discussed Finland’s potential assistance in organizing rehabilitation programs for former political prisoners and their families and holding the regime accountable at the international level.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya called for the exploration of options to simplify migration procedures for Belarusians in Finland, including the process of obtaining political asylum, and for issuing more positive decisions in asylum applications.
“In Finland, Belarusians can learn how to grow a free society. This is why cooperation between our civil societies is essential, as it was, for example, during the webinar ‘On cooperation between Finnish and Belarusian NGOs‘”, noted Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
