Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with King Philippe of Belgium at the Davos Forum
The King in Belgium is the head of state and represents Belgium at the Davos Forum along with the Prime Minister. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told the King about the recent trials, prison conditions, rail partisans, and the United Transitional Cabinet, and urged him to support the initiative to establish an international fund to support the repressed. […]
January 19, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with President of the Swiss National Council Martin Candinas
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke about the situation of political prisoners in Belarus and called for finding ways to negotiate their release through the mediation of Switzerland. Mr. Candinas and Ms. Tsikhanouskaya discussed creating a group of Friends of Belarus in the Swiss parliament. The President said they had eliminated the group that coordinated relations with the […]
January 18, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Davos
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya expressed her support for the President and her efforts to integrate Moldova into the European Union, as well as to resolve the crisis caused by Russia's war against Ukraine. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya thanked the Moldovan Parliament for its decision to create a formal group of Friends of Democratic Belarus. The leaders discussed joint efforts […]
January 18, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with Eurocash CEO Paweł Surówka
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya invited the company to invest in the future Belarus after the democratic transition, but in the meantime refrain from cooperation with the regime. Mr. Surówka and Ms. Tsikhanouskaya also discussed possible assistance to Belarusian shelters in Poland and Belarusian volunteers in Ukraine. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya suggested the company hire repressed Belarusians fleeing to Poland. […]
January 18, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya held talks with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya thanked the Prime Minister for the support in launching the Mission for Democratic Belarus and invited him to the official opening of the office on 27 February in Brussels. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya also spoke about the ongoing trials against journalists, rail partisans, activists, and human rights defenders, and urged for increased support to the […]
January 18, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with the Prime Minister and the Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with the Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Guillaume, and Prime Minister Xavier Bettel during the Davos Forum. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya urged the Luxembourg leadership to pay attention to prison conditions and new arrests in Belarus and make efforts to pressure the regime into releasing political prisoners. She also called for assistance to the repressed […]
January 18, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo in Davos
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke about the recent wave of repressions against the workers in Belarusian, noted the systematic violations of their rights, and told about the trials that took place in recent months against the trade union leaders. The ILO head assured Ms. Tsikhanouskaya that the Organization under his leadership would keep Belarus in focus and […]
January 18, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Spain at the WEF in Davos
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez during the World Economic Forum in Davos. She thanked the Spanish leader for the support and solidarity that the country systematically renders for Belarusians. The Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez expressed his full support to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and the Belarusian democratic forces. He also stressed […]
January 17, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya at the Davos Forum commented on her trial in absentia
“Today begins the “trial in absentia” that the regime started against me. I am accused of every conceivable crime under 10 articles. I can’t take this farce seriously, but I am not going to ignore the violation of rights. My team and I didn't know much about the trial. I learned about the trial from […]
January 17, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya – about Siarhei Tsikhanouski and new charges against him
“Belarusians must not suffer because of someone’s craving for power. Mikalai Statkevich, Andrzej Poczobut, Darya Losik, Eduard Babaryka, and thousands of other Belarusians are charged with more and more crimes that they never committed. The people inventing these charges are the same people who made Belarus a co-aggressor in Russia’s war against Ukraine. These same […]
January 16, 2023
Davos Forum will discuss Belarusian businesses’ issues for the first time in 30 years
A delegation of ABBA, the Association of Belarusian Business Abroad, in partnership with a delegation of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s team, will take part in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. The delegation intends to raise existing problems of Belarusian business, including visa issues, discrimination, access to banking services, financing, and support programs, legal status, […]
January 16, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya will join the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 16-19 to represent the United Transitional Cabinet and the democratic forces of Belarus
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya will attend the Forum alongside leaders from 52 countries and about 600 CEOs of international companies and corporations. The Belarusian leader will speak twice within the core program of the Forum. On January 17, she will join the session entitled “In Defense of Europe” alongside the Presidents of Poland, Lithuania, and Northern Macedonia, […]
January 15, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya demanded to see the case at the trial in absentia
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “The other day the Supreme Court announced its plans to hear a criminal case against me in my absence. I have already commented on these “trials in absentia”. They violate basic human rights and freedoms. That is why I will not let such a “trial” against me be overlooked. The lawyers of my […]
January 13, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on achieving the release of political prisoners
“Various human rights organizations estimate the number of political prisoners in Belarus to be at least 1,439 now (Viasna Human Rights Center’s estimate), with thousands more people not recognized as political prisoners though convicted on political grounds. This number grows by about a hundred people monthly. Behind bars, people face humiliation of their human dignity […]
January 12, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on consistency against the regime and its complicity in the war
“We understand that the Ukrainian authorities would not want to provoke Lukashenka. But the idea that this will stop him is wrong. In early 2022 he made promises to Ukraine of no invasion. We know how it ended up. Lukashenka never keeps his word and will do what Russia tells him to do. He is […]
January 12, 2023
Digest of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Office on Education and Science, December 2022 / Issue 21
Please send information about everything related to education in Belarus to our secure and anonymous chatbot @eduOST_bot. Tell us the news from your educational institution or government department regarding repression and various forms of pressure from authorities, write to us about facts of corruption and new orders that seem unreasonable or irrational to you. We […]
January 11, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s speech at the Opening of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Vilnius office, 2023
“Dear friends, Дарагія сябры, Let me congratulate you on the opening of Radio Liberty’s office in Vilnius and express my gratitude on behalf of all Belarusians who strive for freedom and democracy. I am sure that this office will open new opportunities for Belarusian journalism and the entire democratic movement. Indeed the success of our […]
January 10, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s speech at the expert discussion: “The United Democratic Forces of Belarus: strategic agenda for 2023+ and international support”
“Let me express my gratitude to Oxford Belarus Observatory for organizing this discussion and helping us to keep Belarus on the international agenda. I am glad to see among the participants minister Reinsalu. Dear Urmas, your personal involvement in the Belarus issue means a lot to us. Estonia has also shown incredible power of empathy and […]
January 10, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Maryna Zolatava, Liudmila Chekina, and all TUT.by employees are the pride of Belarusian media”
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Maryna Zolatava, Liudmila Chekina, and all TUT.BY employees are the pride of Belarusian media. They have done more for Belarus than all the propagandists, prosecutors, guards, and other stooges present in the courtroom. In any normal state, they would be rewarded for their professionalism instead of being behind bars. But Belarus today is […]
January 09, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on the trial against human rights defenders
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Ales Bialiatski is the hero and pride of Belarus. Forever. No one will ever take it away from him. Neither the regime, nor the judges, prosecutors, or jailers who have kept him behind bars since July 2021. The “trial” started today against Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski and other Viasna human rights defenders – […]
January 05, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya left a message in the Book of Condolences for former pope Benedict XVI
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya visited the Apostolic Nunciature in Vilnius today to leave a message in the book of condolences for former pope Benedict XVI. Benedict XVI cared about Belarus, thus continuing the approach of his predecessor, St. John Paul II. It was during His Holiness' pontificate that the Cardinal Secretary of State of the Holy See […]
January 04, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was invited to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 16-20
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya intends to visit Davos and take part in the World Economic Forum. The Belarusian leader will speak on the main stage along with the heads of state. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya plans to stress the role of Belarus in the new security architecture in Europe, discuss measures to prevent the use of Belarusian territory in […]
January 03, 2023
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Advisors
Effective today, the status of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's representatives are changing to become advisors. Find their contacts below: Senior Political Advisor Alexander Dabravolski: alexander@tsikhanouskaya.org. Chief Advisor Franak Viacorka: franak@tsikhanouskaya.org. Diplomatic Advisor Dzianis Kuchynski: dzianis@tsikhanouskaya.org. Advisor for the Constitutional Reform and Interparliamentary Cooperation Anatoli Liabedzka: constitution@tsikhanouskaya.org. Advisor on Legal Affairs Kristina Rikhter: legal@tsikhanouskaya.org. Advisor on Education and Science Tatiana Shchyttsova: […]
January 03, 2023
New Year’s Greetings by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya 2023
Dear Belarusians, how have you been doing? How did the weeks before the New Year go for you? I am not sure if you hear this often, but you do an incredible job. You build a life despite the circumstances that make planning even for two weeks impossible. You raise free and talented children despite […]
December 31, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya appointed Kristina Rikhter as Advisor on Legal Affairs
Kristina Rikhter has been practicing law for 10 years, dealing in recent years with both national and international human rights mechanisms. Ms. Rikhter joined the Office in mid-2021. Kristina Rikhter, along with other lawyers, focused on Belarusians who fled to Poland from Ukraine and Belarus after the war and resolved problems and delays in procedures […]
December 29, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “None of us can allow ourselves to adjust to this totalitarian injustice”
“The other day I talked to A Country to Live in Foundation activists about our political prisoners, the inhumane conditions created on purpose for them in prisons and colonies, and, of course, what we can all do for them even as our opportunities to help them are limited. The activists told me the stories of […]
December 28, 2022
By late 2022, 13 national parliaments have formed groups For Democratic Belarus. What do they do and who needs them?
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Representative for Parliamentary Cooperation Anatoli Liabedzka commented on the groups and progress in their formation: “As of today, 13 national parliaments have formed groups For Democratic Belarus: in Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Sweden, the UK, Ukraine, and the US. And the establishment of such parliamentary groups is […]
December 27, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya appointed Volha Harbunova as the United Transitional Cabinet Representative for Social Issues
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya appointed Volha Harbunova as the Representative for Social Issues of the United Transitional Cabinet. Volha, a former political prisoner, will focus on organizing systematic assistance to political prisoners and their relatives. She will also strengthen the Cabinet's international work on the issue of political prisoners in Belarus. The United Transitional Cabinet Representative for […]
December 26, 2022
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya explains why trade in political prisoners is inadmissible
“Over the past two years I have held hundreds of meetings, and at each of them I brought up the issue of releasing political prisoners, stopping torture, repression, or at least improving conditions in prisons. Through the UN and the Red Cross we have been trying to save the lives of those in bad physical […]
December 25, 2022