Tsikhanouskaya: All Dictatorships Seem Invincible Until They Suddenly Collapse

All dictatorships seem invincible until they suddenly collapse, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said while opening a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance “For a Democratic Belarus” at Westminster Palace in London.

“People living under dictatorship want to hear not only about repression and war, but also about the future we are fighting for. What will life be like after dictatorship? How can we free ourselves from dependence on Russia? How can we carry out constitutional reform, economic modernization, restore democratic institutions and the rule of law? All of this is the only path to returning Belarus to its place in Europe.

I want to remind you: all dictatorships seem invincible until they suddenly collapse. We cannot know when or how this will happen. What we can do is bring that moment closer. And that is why we are here,” she said.

The meeting brought together representatives of the parliaments of the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Spain, Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Georgia and Luxembourg, as well as the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Representatives of Belarusian democratic forces and civil society are participating from the Belarusian side.

Tsikhanouskaya thanked British parliamentarians for their consistent support. She noted that the Belarusian issue remains an important part of the European agenda. She also stressed that the security of Belarus, Ukraine and Europe as a whole is interconnected, and that support for democratic change in Belarus is a contribution to regional stability.

Tsikhanouskaya also spoke about the need to maintain international pressure on the Lukashenka and Putin regimes and to ensure accountability for crimes committed against Belarusians and Ukrainians.

She devoted particular attention to discussing a positive alternative for Belarus and what the country could become after the fall of the dictatorship.