Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya continues her working visit to Helsinki. After her speech at the Helsinki+50 Conference, she met with the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb. Mr. Stubb repeatedly expressed solidarity with Belarus following the events of 2020, and Finland remains an important ally of the democratic forces in their fight for freedom and change.
The parties discussed:
- Practical steps to secure the release of political prisoners in Belarus;
- Potential security scenarios in the region, the upcoming Zapad-2025 military exercises, threats to Belarusian independence, and Russia’s efforts to drag Belarus into the war;
- Cooperation with the United States, including with President Trump’s administration;
- Ways to keep Belarus on the international agenda.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya also highlighted the work of Belarusian human rights defenders and independent media, calling for supporting Belarusian culture and identity as part of the resistance: “I am grateful to Finland for its consistency in supporting Ukraine and its firm stance toward the Lukashenka regime. President Stubb and I had an honest and warm meeting, and he is very well informed about the situation. I am glad we have an ally in Finland – a country that knows what it means to live next to an empire, and how precious freedom is, the freedom Belarusians are fighting for”.
