Фото: t.me/CabinetBelarus
Head of the United Transitional Cabinet Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya held a briefing in Vilnius for ambassadors and diplomats from 17 European Union countries. The meeting was organized by the Embassy of Ireland.
The democratic forces’ leader presented the results of the “New Belarus” conference, spoke about efforts to secure the release of political prisoners and cooperation with Ukraine. She separately called on European partners to maintain pressure on the Belarusian authorities and warned of the risk of further involving Belarus in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“We must not forget that new prisoners are still being detained and repression continues. Therefore, we ask our European partners to maintain the pressure and not ease it until we see systemic changes. We must not give in to Lukashenka’s blackmail of the EU”, the politician said.
Speaking about the situation inside Belarus, Tsikhanouskaya said repression was continuing and that there were virtually no opportunities left for independent political and civic activity.
“The regime is targeting virtually everything that is independent. The economy is stagnating. Russian military contracts are one of the factors keeping it afloat. But despite the regime’s attempts to destroy everything that is alive and independent, an underground life continues. It is sprouting again, like grass through concrete”, she said.
During the briefing, Tsikhanouskaya also spoke about preparations for an Irish-Belarusian conference devoted to national identity, culture and media.
Representatives of Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain and Sweden took part in the meeting, the United Transitional Cabinet’s press service reported.