United Transitional Cabinet established Association of Belarusian Veterans to support Belarusian volunteer fighters in Ukraine
The Association of Belarusian Veterans was formed by veterans from various Belarusian voluntary units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its mission is to support Belarusians after they fight in the ranks of the AFU, as well as communicate with the relatives of killed and injured soldiers and the families of those currently seeing duty […]
December 17, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya expresses her condolences to the family and friends of Aleh Hulak
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Today Aleh Hulak, chairman of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, a prominent Belarusian, professional lawyer who has been steadfast in defending the rights of every person, passed away. It is hard for me to even comprehend this news, because only a week ago I met Aleh Hulak when the Nobel Prize was awarded to Ales […]
December 16, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Trials in absentia violate the basic rights and freedoms of Belarusians”
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “It is clear that the regime's special proceedings (trials in absentia) violate the basic rights and liberties of Belarusians. And the criminal prosecution of me personally in special proceedings is not an exception. Now, in the example of the first such trial, we are witnessing the regime's treatment of the rights of the […]
December 15, 2022
Accountability for perpetrators: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office answers Belarusians’ questions concerning justice
1) Are you in touch with NGOs and the International Accountability Platform for Belarus? Do you know what's the progress in investigating crimes against humanity? Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Office maintains working communication with a great number of actors working to bring representatives of the Lukashenka regime to justice. At the level of lawyers and experts, we […]
December 15, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Any deal with the regime comes at the cost of thousands of lives in Belarus”
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “For more than two years I have been talking about Belarus with international partners, some of whom sincerely wanted to help, while others were not much interested in the discussions. Without a doubt, there have been many more of the former. But there have also been the latter. At first, when meeting those […]
December 15, 2022
Grain transit and regime’s initiative to revoke Belarusians’ citizenship on the agenda: results of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s visit to Finland
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya completed her visit to Finland, where she arrived at the invitation of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. President Sauli Niinistö received Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya at his presidential residence. She noted the consensus in Belarusian society on the inadmissibility of Belarusian troops' participation in the aggression against Ukraine and stressed that the deployment of Russian […]
December 15, 2022
“Contradicts Article 10 of the Constitution.” Lawyer of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office on the regime’s initiative to revoke Belarusians’ citizenship
Lawyer of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Office Kristina Rikhter commented on the amendments to Belarus' Law on Citizenship: “The adopted amendments to the Law on Citizenship are clearly targeting the Belarusian citizens forced to flee the country for fear of persecution. It may also affect those convicted under the so-called "extremist" articles who fled to other countries. […]
December 14, 2022
Valery Kavaleuski: “We will fight for every Belarusian to have appropriate legal status in the civilized world, regardless of how insane the regime acts”
Valery Kavaleuski, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet, commented on the legal amendments enabling the regime to revoke the citizenship of Belarusians on political grounds: “Revoking citizenship, which everyone has by the right of birth, is a cynical act of lawlessness that contradicts the Constitution and Belarus’ international commitments. This came as a shock […]
December 14, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “It has been a year since my husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski was illegally sentenced to 18 years in prison”
“Before that, he had spent more than a year and a half in the torturous conditions of the pre-trial detention center. Every day he spent there was a challenge for me, too. What do I tell our children when they ask where daddy is? What can I do to get him out of captivity? I […]
December 14, 2022
Support for political prisoners and renaming Belarus: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya began her visit to Finland
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with Prime Minister Sanna Marin, with whom she discussed: The situation concerning political prisoners, conditions in prisons and international mechanisms for their release. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya appealed for assistance to the repressed – many are being released and need rehabilitation. Changing the name of Belarus in Finnish. Now, Belarus is called “White Russia” […]
December 13, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya will visit Finland
Belarusian democratic leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, will visit Helsinki on 13 and 14 December, at the invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto. During her visit, Tsikhanouskaya will meet with the President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö, Prime Minister Sanna Marin, the Speaker of Parliament Matti Vanhanen, as well as members of the delegations of […]
December 12, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya attended the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony. Results of the second day of the visit to Norway
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya attended the ceremony where Nobel laureates from Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia were awarded their gold medals. Ales Bialiatski’s wife Natallia Pinchuk received his award. Right after the ceremony, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya gave a speech at the Torchlight procession, calling for bold and decisive actions and said that freedom is never just a given and […]
December 11, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s speech at the Torchlight procession in Oslo, 2022
“Dear friends, There is no more important thing in the world than freedom. But Freedom can never be taken for granted. And freedom is not given forever. At any moment it can be taken away. Freedom is something we have always had to fight for and sustain. Nobel Peace Prize laureates know very well the […]
December 10, 2022
Today marks the International Day of Solidarity with Ales Bialiatski and Belarusian human rights defenders worldwide
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya declared 10 December as the International Day of Solidarity with Ales Bialiatski and Belarusian human rights defenders, dedicated to Human Rights Day and the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatski. 131 MPs from 21 countries called for the release of Belarusian Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales […]
December 10, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya congratulates Ales Bialiatski and Belarusians on the Nobel Peace Prize
“Today, Ales Bialiatski, and all of free Belarus, received the Nobel Peace Prize. Ales has all of Belarus behind him because he used to promote his values of Belarusian dignity back in the days when some of us had not yet come to them, or were not even born. I congratulate our hero and his […]
December 10, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya started her working visit to Norway
Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya arrived in Oslo yesterday at the invitation of the Nobel Committee. She began her visit my meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Anniken Huitfeldt, and the President of the Norwegian Parliament, Masud Gharahkhani. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya thanked Norway for its support: Norway has provided assistance to the European Humanitarian University, independent […]
December 10, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya invites everyone to watch the Nobel Prize ceremony, where Ales Bialiatski will be awarded the Peace Prize
Today, Ales Bialiatski will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He will not be able to receive his prize in person, as he is currently behind bars. But we all can express our support and solidarity for Ales and all Belarusian political prisoners. We can watch the Nobel Prize Award ceremony together. Gather with your […]
December 10, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s speech at the Reception organized by Helsinki Committee in Oslo, 2022
“Good evening, Dear excellencies, Dear friends, Honorable Berit Lindeman, Let me start by congratulating Ales Bialiatski, Memorial and Center for Civil Liberties. I could not imagine a better decision by The Nobel Committee. Why? Because Human Rights defenders – are our guardian angels. Guardian angels of all those who fight for freedom and justice. They […]
December 09, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Siarhei Tsikhanouski was deprived of a lawyer”
“Viktar Matskevich was deprived of his license today. He was expelled from the bar association yesterday after not passing the extraordinary attestation. Viktar is a professional who used to defend political prisoners. I thank him for the dignity he has demonstrated while doing his job all this time and the care he has shown to […]
December 09, 2022
Sweden will prioritize Belarus during its EU presidency
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is currently on a working visit to Sweden. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya met with the new Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson. At the meeting, he underscored that Sweden has been supporting the Belarusian democratic movement and will continue its support. Mr. Kristersson and Ms. Tsikhanouskaya proposed holding a high-level discussion on Belarus during the […]
December 06, 2022
Belarusian students already received their first long-term Czech visas
The Office of Belarus Democratic Forces in Prague has reported that the Civil Society visa program of the Czech Foreign Ministry has been extended to Belarus. First Belarusian students already received long-term visas to study in Czechia. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Today I want to thank a Czech non-governmental organization for becoming a guarantor for the Belarusian […]
December 05, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is visiting Sweden on December 5-6 at the invitation of the new Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya will hand over to the Prime Minister proposals on the strategy for Belarus. Sweden will be presiding over the European Union from January 1. Within the visit, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya will meet with Foreign Minister Tobias Billström, Migration Minister Maria Stenergaard, President of the Stockholm City Council Olle Burell, Speaker of Parliament Andreas Norlén, […]
December 03, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Today is the International Day of Disabled Persons”
“A father of two children, one of them having a rare disease, signed up for our recent public phone-in. His wife had to quit her job to devote all her time to the child. The man said Belarusian hospitals are reluctant to deal with the adaptation of his child to normal life and are perhaps […]
December 03, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya took part in the 29th OSCE Ministerial Council
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya took part in the 29th Ministerial Council of the OSCE, which was held in Łódź, Poland. In this way, the OSCE and the Polish Chairmanship of the organization decided to support the representatives of democratic Belarus. The Lukashenka regime was also represented at the event by Andrei Dapkiunas, whom Ms. Tsikhanouskaya met before […]
December 02, 2022
“We must stand together against aggressive dictators.” Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s address at the 2022 Kyiv Security Forum
“Dear Friends, Thank you for inviting me to speak at the Kyiv Security Forum at such an important moment in the history of Ukraine and relations between our nations. It is an honor and great responsibility for me. First of all, let me congratulate the Ukrainian people on the anniversary of the Act of Declaration […]
December 01, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s speech at the Lithuanian-Belarusian Free Journalism Forum, 2022
“Dear Friends, Dear journalists,
I am happy to greet you! I know that it has hardly ever been easy for the independent Belarusian journalism to exist. It would be naïve to say that manhunt on journalists began in 2020. Zmitser Zavadsky went missing 22 years ago. Veranika Charkasava was killed in 2004. In Belarus, […]
December 01, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Maryia Kalesnikava’s hospitalization
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “For more than two years, people have been tortured in Belarusian prisons. I consider it my duty to speak, shout about it as loudly as I can – and not only about the people I know personally, but about everyone. Yesterday, when I learned that Maryia Kalesnikava was in intensive care, my heart clenched […]
November 30, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on the release of political prisoners convicted in the “student case”
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Today, almost all the political prisoners convicted in the so-called “student case” were released, including my ex-representative Alana Gebremariam and teacher Volha Filatchankova. First and foremost, they now need to rehabilitate and continue their education. The Belarusian Students' Association is raising funds for the Smolich scholarship, which will be distributed among the released […]
November 30, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with Romanian Prime Minister and spoke at the Munich Leaders Meeting in Bucharest
The Prime Minister of Romania, Nicolae Ciucă, greeted the Belarusian leader in his office on November 28. This was Ms. Tsikhanouskaya’s first meeting with the head of the Romanian government. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya talked about the recent repressions in Belarus, conditions for political prisoners,, the situation of Maryia Kalesnikava, and the case of Ales Bialiatski. The […]
November 29, 2022