Aliaksandra Mamaeva commented to Belsat on the vote of no confidence passed against her by the European Choice faction, describing the procedure as unlawful and non-transparent. According to her, such a measure is not provided for either in the faction’s internal documents or in the Charter of the Coordination Council. The Council’s Secretariat has already confirmed that there are no legal grounds for such a resolution.
According to Mamaeva, an anonymous document containing accusations against her was read out at an internal faction meeting the previous day, but she was not allowed to review it. Among the allegations were claims that she had forwarded screenshots of internal correspondence to third parties, taken credit for the results of other people’s work, and conducted consultations on the formation of the International Commission without authorization.
Mamaeva rejected the allegations.
“One of the accusations was that I had allegedly forwarded screenshots of the list’s internal correspondence to other people. That never happened, I did not do it, and no evidence was presented. The allegation was not about passing information to the KGB, but about supposedly sharing materials with someone outside the list,” she said.
“I was also accused of conducting consultations regarding future work and the formation of the International Commission. However, that is true because I continue to serve as the head of the International Commission. The delegation’s mandate in PACE has been extended, so my work also continues,” Mamaeva added.
According to Mamaeva, following the Coordination Council elections, the International Commission must be formed anew. For that reason, she began preliminary consultations with representatives of various factions to accelerate the process.
“At a meeting of the International Commission, we discussed the need to establish the new composition of the commission as quickly as possible and begin its work. Therefore, I conducted consultations in advance regarding whom the factions planned to nominate and which areas should become priorities,” she said.
Mamaeva also rejected claims that she had negotiated on behalf of the entire faction.
“That is not true. I have never spoken on behalf of the faction, especially since this issue had not yet been discussed within the list. All the work I carried out was done exclusively within the scope of my authority in the International Commission,” she stressed.
Mamaeva also sees signs of political infighting within the faction.
“I view what is happening as a targeted campaign against me by a group of people,” she said.
Asked whether the current situation could be linked to previously reported recruitment attempts by the KGB, Mamaeva said that no questions on that subject had been raised by faction members.
“I have always informed the faction leader, Valery Matskevich, about all such attempts. I also informed the Coordination Council’s Security Commission. When it concerned my work with the People’s Embassies, the information was likewise passed on to the relevant bodies. In addition, I reported all information about such threats and recruitment attempts to the Slovenian police and security services, as this falls within their jurisdiction,” she said.
Mamaeva noted that just five minutes after the statement announcing the vote of no confidence was published, two individuals who had previously attempted to recruit her contacted her with proposals for cooperation.
“This shows that such situations are immediately exploited by the regime and the KGB to deepen divisions within the democratic community,” she stressed.
Mamaeva said she intends to publicly defend her name and use all legal mechanisms available to protect her reputation.
Coordination Council Speaker Artsiom Brukhan, for his part, explained that a faction cannot unilaterally revoke Mamaeva’s mandate as a delegate. According to him, such a decision requires the support of two-thirds of the entire Coordination Council. The final status of all parties involved will become clear after the first session of the Council, which is scheduled to take place by June 22.
He clarified that until the first session, all such decisions remain internal faction matters and have no direct impact on a delegate’s mandate. According to him, Mamaeva may ultimately remain in the faction, become non-affiliated, or independently decide on her future status.
As previously reported, the European Choice faction of the Coordination Council announced a vote of no confidence in Aliaksandra Mamaeva. The decision was adopted by a qualified majority of three-quarters of the votes. The stated grounds were “well-founded security concerns.”
“In light of the decision adopted, further representation by Aliaksandra Mamaeva on behalf of European Choice in the Coordination Council is impossible,” the faction said.
Aliaksandra Mamaeva heads the Coordination Council’s International Commission and participated in the creation of the Belarusian People’s Embassies. She has lived in Slovenia since 2015. Last autumn, she publicly spoke about attempts by the KGB to recruit her. According to Mamaeva, in 2021 she was offered cooperation in exchange for a safe return to Belarus, while in 2024 an agent posing as a client in the yachting business attempted to obtain information about the Belarusian diaspora and threatened her relatives. She reported the incidents to the Slovenian police and colleagues in the democratic movement.