“Dear Deputy Assistant Secretary Chris Smith,
Your excellency Ambassador Herbst,
Dear friends,
First, I’d like to thank our dear host, the Atlantic Council, for many years of support.
Since 2020, every day and every week, you were covering the protests, repressions, and you were trying to keep Belarus high on the agenda here in the US. It’s especially difficult today when there is a competition of global crises in the world.
I give my thanks to the Atlantic Council Eurasia Center, to Shelby, to Ambassador Herbst. In 2020, when our protests sparked, you proposed the United States to urgently appoint a Special envoy on Belarus, and Julie Fisher opened many doors for us.
I hope that, as a result of the Strategic dialogue, the U.S. will appoint the new special envoy soon. This person will be the bridge between Belarus democratic forces and the United States. That will be a strong message of support and solidarity to the Belarusian people.
Today, we raise our cooperation to a new level. The Strategic dialogue which we just concluded will make our work more coordinated, more efficient, and, above all, more strategic.
As Chris Smith mentioned yesterday, we are not just reliable allies and trusted partners. Now we are strategic partners.
There were no such cases in history, when the US government launched a strategic dialogue not with government actors, but with a democratic movement. It’s unprecedented. It’s non-conventional.
But we live in non-conventional times, which need non-conventional solutions.
As a result of this dialogue, we will create working groups on specific issues, like: release of political prisoners, fighting disinformation, supporting civil society and cultural initiatives. And we will draw the road maps of events and campaigns that will include actors from the US and from the Belarusian side.
I hope that the US-Belarus Strategic dialogue will also help to strengthen the agency of Belarusian democratic forces and our institutions, such as the United Transitional Cabinet and the Coordination Council. It will empower our civil society initiatives in trying to reach people on the ground to counter toxic Russian and Lukashenka’s narratives.
We have to show Belarusians the positive alternative to the “Russian world”, the future they can have after the collapse of the regime.
Only within the European and Transatlantic Community Belarus can become a truly independent, democratic and sovereign country.
I know, this path can be long, but this path is the only one for us.
We have to break chains of our centuries dependence on Russia, and bring Belarus back to Europe.
Earlier this year at the Munich security conference I announced that Belarus should cease the Belarus-Russia union state and CSTO. All the deals and agreements between the illegitimate Lukashenka and Putin must be recognized as void. Lukashenka doesn’t have power to speak and decide on behalf of the Belarusian people.
In August 2023, all the democratic forces together made a common decision to follow the European path of development. For the first time we had consensus on this issue.
I understand that membership in the EU is a long process. But the first step could be development of the Association agreement between democratic Belarus and the European Union.
At the hearings in the House of Representatives this week, I asked the US Congress to endorse European and Transatlantic aspirations of Belarusians. Many Belarusians want to hear that they are part of this community, not only from us, but also from you.
We have to show Belarusians that in the process of democratic transition, they will have support from the powerful democratic allies.
As the EU already pledged 3 billion euros for democratic Belarus, we also ask the US to consider including Belarus in the regional economy recovery plan, to ensure fast and smooth transition from tyranny to democracy.
The cancer of tyranny is growing very fast. If not contained, it will spill over entire Europe. I know that sanctions are not a silver bullet, but it’s a treatment for this cancer. We need efficient sanctions on Lukashenka and Putin without loopholes. And we must make sure that all those who help bypass sanctions, will not stay unpunished.
Individual sanctions are also very important. If the judges who jailed Ales Bialiatski ten years ago knew that they would be on the sanction list, Bialiatski would probably not be jailed again.
There probably wouldn’t be thousands of sentences against other political prisoners. I speak not only about judges, but about all prosecutors, KGB-officers, propagandists, and oligarchs. They must be sanctioned too.
Let’s bring Lukashenka and his cronies to account. For too long, they felt impunity for their actions. And they have a long record of crimes: crimes against humanity, hijacking the Ryanair plane, orchestrating the migration crisis on the EU borders, abducting Ukrainian kids from occupied territories.
The US has powerful expertise to push these cases in the ICC, ICJ and in national courts under universal jurisdiction. I can’t understand why Lukashenko has not received the arrest warrant yet. It would make him toxic even for his own cronies.
And finally, we should support those who strive for changes. I’m talking about political prisoners who need rehabilitation, and about their families who need support.
I’m talking about independent media and influencers who counter propaganda and connect people inside the country, and in exile.
I’m talking about democratic institutions, about civil society groups, and of course about the Belarusian diaspora. Additional material assistance from the Congress is of crucial importance.
Many Belarusians live here in the US. It would be a great message of solidarity if the US extends the Temporary Protected Status for Belarusians. People can’t return home to renew their documents, because they will be immediately detained.
Dear friends,
Supporting Belarus you also support Ukraine. The destinies of our countries are intertwined. Without free Belarus, there won’t be safe Ukraine, and vice versa.
Democratic change in Belarus will be a huge blow to Putin, and a great help to Ukraine. And the victory of Ukraine will be the ultimate blow to Russian imperialism.
Therefore, supporting Belarus and supporting Ukraine is not charity. It’s an investment in peace and security in Europe.
Let’s help Ukraine to win this war.
Dear friends,
For Belarusians, the United States is a beacon of hope, and champion of democracy.
And Belarusians have very high expectations from these talks that we have these days.
Let’s meet these expectations. Let’s make actions, not just tweets!
Let’s not fail all those Belarusians who make sacrifices for values that the American people cherish so much.
250 years ago a Belarus-born military officer Tadeusz Kosciuszko went to the United States to help the Founding Fathers win the war for independence. After that he famously went back home to fight for his motherland to liberate it from the yoke of the Russian empire.
This is what we must do for Belarus. And we count that the United States of America, the most powerful guardian of democracy in the world, will stand with us Belarusians in our quest for freedom.
Thank you.
God Bless America! Long Live Belarus!”
