“Dear Prime Minister Harper,
Dear Lord Ashcroft,
Dear Chairman McAllister,
Dear friends from International Democracy Union,
Thank you, dear David, for your kind words. And for your dedicated long-lasting support for democratic Belarus.
Dear Mr. Harper, Belarusian democratic politicians will never forget their meetings with you in times when you were the Prime Minister of Canada. Thank you so much for staying true to our common ideals. Then as Prime Minister, now – as the chairman of IDU.
For many years, the International Democracy Union was a champion in standing with all those who fight for freedom, not only in Belarus, but worldwide. The fight for freedom is a global one and it can not be won alone.
It’s a great privilege to receive the Bush-Thatcher award. I receive it on behalf of the Belarusian people who are paying a big price for freedom and democracy. Thank you from all of my heart for this precious award again. It is not just for myself, but for millions of freedom-loving Belarusians.
I want to dedicate this prize to all those, whose freedom was taken away.
And I dedicate this award to Belarusian political prisoners who can’t be with us in this room today. They are serving their draconian sentences in Lukashenka’s prisons. Kept isolated, tortured, beaten. There are many bright people such as our Peace Prize Laureate Ales Bialiatski, or Maria Kalesnikava, my comrade, who tore her passport when the regime was trying to kick her out of the country.
With this award, we honor their struggle. It is a message to all Belarusian political prisoners: you are not alone, we remember you and stand by you.
This award is also a recognition of the long-term political work of our democratic parties that have been shaping the history of modern Belarus for more than 30 years.
I applaud your decision to share this award with the Belarusian Popular Front and United Civic Party. Their brave leaders – Mikalai Kazlou and Ryhor Kastusiou – thousands miles from here – are tortured in Lukashenka’s dark cells.
Ryhor Kastusiou was diagnosed with cancer. He doesn’t get necessary medical treatment. The regime is slowly killing him, like it killed many of its political opponents.
Mikalai and Ryhor, this is your award, too.
I greet Uladzimir Dubrouski from the United Civic Party. He’s now living in exile, and he came here to receive this award in the name of his party. Congratulations, dear Uladzimir!
One of my political advisors, Anatol Liabiedzka, was among founders of UCP. He was arrested countless times for his political activities. Today, the regime jails his son Artsiom to take revenge on his father. Artsiom was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. Dear Anatol, we stay in solidarity with you and your family. It is your award, too.
I would like to dedicate this award to another famous activist, Mikola Statkevich, the leader of Belarusian Social Democrats and now a political prisoner. It’s been 300 days since we last heard from him. There are rumors that he died in prison. His wife Maryna Adamovich demands the authorities to let her visit Mikola to prove that he is alive. We all pray and hope that he is.
Dear Mikola and Maryna, it is your award, too.
I myself have not heard anything from my husband Siarhei since March. My children have not seen their dad for 3.5 years. I don’t even know if he is alive. It’s because of him that I am standing here before you.
It was my husband, who three years ago, decided to challenge the dictator by running for the presidency.
Lukashenka locked him up. But as so often with the regime, they overlooked me. That often seems to happen with women.
To support my husband I decided to run for the presidency in his place. As a joke, they registered me as a candidate. The dictator didn’t think a woman would have a chance. He said, ‘our constitution is not for women’.
Unfortunately for him, I won. We won. And for a brief moment we felt total joy and freedom. And as you also know, the dictator could not accept defeat.
Over the next few days, the streets of Minsk and other cities were flooded with people. Hundreds of thousands marched to protest against the stolen election. Belarusians shouted in one voice: Enough! Enough of the dictatorship! Enough of the oppression!
It was a remarkable, peaceful uprising of the ordinary citizens. We chose freedom over tyranny, truth over lies, and light over darkness.
The regime responded with cruelty and violence. It unleashed terror unseen before. With the support of Putin, he managed to crack down on the protest, but he did not manage to suppress the people’s desire for change. It will never do.
People who tasted freedom once, will never accept tyranny again.
Dear friends,
Sometimes I hear that Belarus is a lost case. It’s not!
Of course, we can’t see beautiful rallies lately, because of the police terror. Resistance went underground. Even three years after, Lukashenka still behaves, as thousands of people are still rallying near his palace.
When Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022 from our territory, Belarusian partisans organized 80 acts of sabotage to stop the advance of Russian troops. Hundreds went to Ukraine as military volunteers. 40 Belarusians sacrificed their lives for the freedom of Ukraine.
Because we understand that the fates of Belarus and Ukraine are intertwined. Without free Ukraine there will not be free Belarus. But also vice versa. Without free Belarus, there will not be safe Ukraine.
Let’s help Ukraine to win this war!
Victory of Ukraine will be the ultimate defeat of Putin and Lukashenka. Ukraine is not just defending its territory. It fights for all those values that we all here cherish so much.
If we let Ukraine fail, we let democracy fail. And this is something that must never happen.
Dear excellencies,
The fight for democracy is often romanticized.
However, there is another, darker picture of it. The road to democracy is paved with pain, tears, and suffering.
It needs sacrifice. It needs patience.
Margaret Thatcher once said: “I’ve got a woman’s ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it,” Resilience and patience: this is exactly what we need today.
I often ask myself whether I as a woman possess these qualities. Ms. Thatcher certainly did.
Of course I feel despair sometimes, seeing all the injustices that are being done to my countrymen. Also to Ukrainians. Sometimes it seems that it would be much easier to “walk off and leave it”.
But then I think about my imprisoned husband, about thousands of political prisoners, about our military volunteers fighting in Ukraine. About Mikalai Kazlou and Ryhor Kastusiou.
And I understand that I have to go on. I have no right to fail them.
To finish with, let me tell you a story. I think that this story describes very well what’s going on in Belarus.
It’s a story of young parents, Alina Nahornaya and Ihar Sluchak. They are activists, promoting the use of the Belarusian language in public life.
As you know, everything Belarusian is persecuted and banned by the Pro-Russian regime. Even speaking Belarusian on the street makes you a suspect in the eyes of Lukashenka’s thugs.
For two years, both Alina and Ihar were wanted by the police for their activities. They had to live in hiding, together with their two little sons, Stefan and Tadevush.
In November 2020, the police started looking for the couple to arrest them. They had to leave their house when their elder son Stefan was only 8 months old.
For two years in hiding, they lived in anonymity. They couldn’t use their car, their mobile phones, their bank cards or public transportation.
People helped them with everything they could. Nobody gave the family away to the police.
They moved from flat to flat about ten times. Alina had to give birth to their second son under the constant threat of her identity being revealed to the police.
It’s horrible that something like this happens in 21st century Europe. That people are hunted for their political views. For their love of their country, for their love of freedom and democracy.
When the regime’s thugs almost knocked on their door, Alina and Ihar outsmarted them. Many people, whom they even did not know, helped them to flee Belarus.
And you know, they are not in despair, all the opposite. They are confident in what they do, because they do what is right.
It’s almost like a Christmas story. A story about a family that managed to escape the persecution by the tyranny to save the children. To save the future of our nation.
This story fills me with optimism. It is a story about an almost lost case that became a success story. It’s a story about Belarus.
The dictatorship is not almighty. Without support from the people, it will always lose. And those who have the people on their side, will win.
With our support – and with the support of all our friends from the entire world – they will manage to break the chains of tyranny and set themselves free.
Let’s not let them down.
The path to freedom can be long and difficult. But this path is the oly right one. Let’s walk this path together.
Thank you. Zhyve Belarus.”
