On September 2, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya held a briefing in Vilnius for ambassadors and diplomats from 17 European Union countries. The meeting was organized by the Embassy of Ireland.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya presented the outcomes of the New Belarus Conference and spoke about the efforts to secure the release of political prisoners and cooperation with Ukraine. She called for maintaining pressure on the regime and stressed the risk of Belarus becoming further involved in Russia’s war. She also announced preparations for an Irish–Belarusian conference dedicated to national identity, culture, and media.
Representatives of Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Sweden took part in the briefing.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “We must not forget that new prisoners are still being detained and repression continues. That is why we are asking our European partners to maintain the pressure and not ease it until we see systemic changes. We must not give in to Lukashenka’s blackmail of the EU.
The situation inside Belarus remains serious. The regime continues its repression. There is almost no space left for independent political or social activity. The regime is targeting almost everything that is independent. The economy is stagnating. Russian military contracts are one of the factors keeping it afloat. But despite the regime’s attempts to destroy everything that is alive and independent, underground life continues. It grows back again, like grass through concrete”.
