Viačorka Explains How Tsikhanouskaya’s Team Tried to Start Talks with Lukashenka with Austria’s Mediation

Reform.news Editorial Team · 8 November 2026, 15:41

https://reform.news/en/viacorka-explains-how-tsikhanouskaya-s-team-tried-to-start-talks-with-lukashenka-with-austria-s-mediation/

Following the 2020 presidential election, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya‘s team proposed holding confidential consultations with representatives of Aliaksandr Lukashenka without preconditions. These were intended to pave the way for political negotiations, for which the team insisted on the release of political prisoners, an end to repression and security guarantees for participants. Franak Viačorka, Tsikhanouskaya’s chief adviser, described on Facebook how the initiative was prepared and why it never led to direct negotiations.

The post was prompted by an interview with Andrei Bushyla by Nastassia Rouda for TOK, in which he mentioned the 2020–2021 Vienna initiative. Viačorka outlined how preparations for possible talks looked from Tsikhanouskaya’s team’s perspective.

September–November 2020: From a Meeting in Brussels to a Closed-Door Round Table in Vienna

September 21. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with the foreign ministers of EU member states in Brussels. According to Viačorka, she met Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg for the first time there and proposed considering international mediation as a way to hold new elections in Belarus.

October 8. On her way back from the GLOBSEC forum in Bratislava, Tsikhanouskaya held a separate meeting with Schallenberg at Vienna Airport. The location of the meeting was later confirmed in an interview with Reform.news by Austrian MP Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic. According to Viačorka, the conversation lasted about half an hour. The parties discussed whether Austria could serve as a venue for negotiations on new elections. Schallenberg offered assistance with mediation, although, as Viačorka notes, he was already saying publicly at the time that the Belarusian authorities were rejecting such proposals.

November 5–6. Tsikhanouskaya met with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Vienna. The following day, the Vienna-based ICEUR centre held a closed-door round table. Participants included Tsikhanouskaya and her team, Valery and Veranika Tsapkala, representatives of Pavel Latushka‘s team, Austrian diplomats and experts. Among them were former Austrian Vice-Chancellor Erhard Busek and diplomat Martin Sajdik, who had previously represented the OSCE in negotiations on Donbas.

According to Viačorka, the round table discussed possible formats for negotiations, international guarantees, and the involvement of Russia and the European Union. Following the meeting, the organizers proposed establishing a permanent dialogue mechanism. No representatives of the Belarusian authorities attended the round table.

March–April 2021: A Channel for Confidential Consultations and a Two-Stage Plan

March. According to Viačorka, Valery Kavaleuski, the international affairs representative of Tsikhanouskaya’s team, met with Sajdik in Vienna. Sajdik was working with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), an organization that facilitates confidential mediation in conflicts. Tsikhanouskaya’s team explored the possibility of using this channel to establish contact with representatives of Lukashenka.

“The idea is simple: if the regime does not want public negotiations, it is possible to start with confidential expert consultations, without cameras or high-profile statements,” Viačorka wrote.

April 20–24. According to Viačorka, Sajdik told Tsikhanouskaya’s team that HD was already working on Belarus-related issues and spoke of plans to visit Minsk for three days with a colleague. Viačorka does not name the colleague or specify whether the trip took place. At the same time, the team was arranging a meeting between Sajdik, his colleague and Tsikhanouskaya in Vienna. According to Viačorka, the meeting fell through because of changes to the schedule.

April 26–28. During a new visit to Vienna, Tsikhanouskaya met with the heads of delegations to the OSCE, discussed the possibility of negotiations at an international venue with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, and on April 28 held meetings with Kurz and with Schallenberg.

According to Viačorka, during the visit Tsikhanouskaya’s team presented the Austrian side with a plan for a peaceful settlement. The first stage proposed preliminary consultations without preconditions, including with people Lukashenka might appoint. The second stage was to involve political negotiations. The team’s conditions for these talks included the release of political prisoners, an end to repression and security guarantees for participants. International guarantees, a transitional period and possible terms for a peaceful transfer of power were also discussed.

Following the meeting with Tsikhanouskaya, Schallenberg said publicly that dialogue required both sides to be willing to engage and that he did not see such willingness on Lukashenka’s part. The minister identified the OSCE as a suitable venue for dialogue.

May–October 2021: Preparations for an International Conference

May–July. According to Viačorka, Tsikhanouskaya proposed that Kurz convene an international conference on resolving the Belarusian crisis, and the chancellor supported the initiative. Her team consulted with the Austrian government, proposed involving Switzerland and Finland, and discussed the possible roles of the OSCE, the European Union and Russia. Viačorka writes that Switzerland made the participation of all political sides a condition for joining as a co-organizer. According to him, Minsk never agreed to take part.

October. Tsikhanouskaya’s team once again approached ICEUR and Sajdik with a proposal to hold separate expert discussions in Vienna on possible negotiations between the authorities and democratic forces. At the same time, the Austrian government was preparing a high-level conference. According to Viačorka, the draft programme envisaged the participation of representatives of the Belarusian authorities, to whom Austria sent invitations. Some of the discussions were expected to take place behind closed doors. By that time, Schallenberg had replaced Kurz as chancellor and announced the conference for November 22.

November 2021: Minsk Rejects the Initiative and Conference Takes Place Without Negotiations

According to Viačorka, Austria invited Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, among others, to the conference. Before Minsk publicly rejected the invitation, Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic had told Reform.news that the possibility of participation had been discussed with Lukashenka’s closest advisers.

November 10. At a joint press conference with Lavrov, Makei described the Vienna initiative as a “meaningless undertaking” and an “unfriendly step”. According to Viačorka, Makei announced that no Belarusian official would attend the conference.

“Lavrov also criticizes the proposed format for dialogue. According to Austrian MP Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic, the Belarusian authorities initially showed interest, but decided not to participate after Russia reacted negatively,” Viačorka wrote.

November 22. The conference was held mainly online. Tsikhanouskaya took part from Vienna. The conference was opened alongside her by Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Linhart and European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi. Foreign ministers from European countries and representatives of Belarusian democratic forces joined the discussions. Participants discussed repression, the situation of political prisoners and ways to resolve the crisis. Representatives of Lukashenka did not take part in the conference, and direct negotiations never began.

“We were ready to talk even with representatives of Lukashenka if it could stop the violence and lead to new elections. We did not set any preconditions for starting consultations. But we always insisted that a genuine political settlement was impossible without the release of political prisoners and an end to repression,” Viačorka wrote.

In Viačorka’s assessment, there was a genuine opportunity to launch a peaceful political process in 2020–2021. He attributes Lukashenka’s rejection of dialogue to his desire to remain in power.