During the Munich Security Conference, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke to participants of MSC Young Leaders – a program for emerging political leaders from around the world. The audience included representatives of governments and parliaments, as well as politicians from various countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Türkiye, Pakistan, Germany, and others.
The meeting lasted more than an hour and was held in a format combining remarks and an open Q&A session.
Key topics of discussion included:
- Political prisoners and pressure on the regime. Participants discussed negotiations with the United States regarding the release of political prisoners, conditions in prisons, and sanctions. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya emphasized that pressure on the regime remains an important tool for securing people’s release.
- Security and threats. The discussion addressed the deployment of nuclear weapons and underscored that Russia continues to escalate tensions, posing a threat not only to neighboring countries but to all of Europe.
- The war in Ukraine. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called for taking the Belarusian factor into account in the broader context of the war. She noted that neither Lukashenka nor Putin is interested in a swift end to the war and that both use it as a tool to maintain power.
The discussion also touched on Belarus’ “war economy”, the work of the democratic forces, the upcoming Coordination Council election, the suspension of passport issuance in the regime’s embassies abroad, and the New Belarusian Passport.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya also presented the BELPOL report on the Lukashenka regime’s involvement in the war and the Red Paper on the EU–Belarus security framework.
