During her visit to the Netherlands, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke at the Congress of the Party of European Socialists (PES), where she shared the Belarusian experience of the struggle for democracy.
The discussion featured Austrian Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler, Belgian Walloon Socialist Party President Paul Magnette, MEP Klára Dobrev, and Rainbow Rose President Dajana Bakić. The moderator was MEP Thijs Reuten.
In her address to European leaders, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called for decisive action to defend democracy and freedom:
“Will we dare to do, give, and demand more for democracy? We must. We cannot afford to settle for less democracy. Freedom is easy to lose but hard to regain.
We also cannot settle for less security. When Russian drones attack a NATO country, we cannot turn away as if nothing happened. Many turned away when the ‘little green men’ appeared in Crimea. Now they are appearing on the Estonian border. How far can we retreat to appease dictators?
An aggressor must not be rewarded for recklessness. Dictators cannot be appeased and cannot be re-educated”.
The PES Congress is a platform for dialogue between political leaders, experts, and representatives of civil society.
