The Belarusian leader began her working visit to Stockholm, where she met with the Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, and the Minister for European Affairs, Jessika Roswall.
During the meeting, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya discussed support for Belarusian civil society and independent media, as well as raised the issue of visas for Belarusians. She emphasized the importance of not isolating the people and promoting their mobility. The leader thanked European partners for initiating procedures to simplify the legalization of stay as in mid-spring, Sweden decided to recognize expired Belarusian passports and suspend the requirement of documents which cannot be renewed or acquired without returning to Belarus.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya also addressed support for political prisoners and those needing rehabilitation after imprisonment – more than 1,600 people have already served their sentences. She spoke about the international humanitarian fund for supporting Belarusian political prisoners and called on Sweden to contribute to it. The initiative to create the fund was announced during Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s visit to Norway.
The leader also proposed appointing an EU special envoy for Belarus and highlighted the situation inside the country: daily repression against Belarusians, the horrific conditions in prisons, and the incommunicado detention that many political prisoners face.
