Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya joined a podcast for the BBC’s One Decision channel. During the conversation, she highlighted the fundamental problems that Belarus has faced in recent years. She explained why active support and response from the West are important not only for Ukraine and Belarus but also for the security of Western countries themselves. Additionally, she addressed why people vote for politicians with populist rhetoric.
Here are the most notable quotes from the podcast:
📌 “Today’s struggle is a fight between the past and the future of my country. We are at a crossroads: Either Belarus becomes a free, independent European state, or it remains in the Russian orbit. In 2020, Belarusians clearly chose freedom and Europe, and now we continue to defend this choice”.
📌 “Dictators perceive the democratic world as a very weak world. They do not respect democracy. When they see this indecisiveness or hesitations, they perceive it as a weakness. They are testing how far they can go in their brutality just to cause some reaction”.
📌 ”You know why you have to sacrifice comfort in your life? It’s so easy to think that ‘it’s not my business’. ‘Why should I interfere?’ We have to explain to people who enjoy democracy and think that it’s given for granted, that democracy has to be fought for. If we allow dictators to prevail, believe me, you will be the next target of these dictators”.
📌 “Populism is damaging because it enables dictators such as Lukashenka to rule and thrive. People are voting for this because they want to believe in simple solutions”.
📌 “Of course, I want our fight to be a sprint, but it’s already a marathon. And we have to be patient, we have to be creative, we have to be innovative in fighting this old-fashioned but brutal dictatorship”.
📌 “I want the West to be more decisive in supporting Ukraine and free Belarus. For two years, no strong sanctions were imposed, no punishment for crimes against humanity or deportation of Ukrainian kids. Half-measures only harm”.
