{"id":507152,"date":"2026-01-03T14:48:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T11:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=507152"},"modified":"2026-01-03T15:10:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T12:10:05","slug":"tsikhanouskaya-office-says-pressure-from-regime-has-intensified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/tsikhanouskaya-office-says-pressure-from-regime-has-intensified","title":{"rendered":"Tsikhanouskaya Office Says Pressure From Regime Has Intensified"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Belarusian authorities have stepped up pressure on the democratic community after responsibility for the security of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya<\/b> was transferred to Lithuania\u2019s Criminal Police Bureau. This was stated by diplomatic adviser to the democratic leader Dzianis Kuchynski<\/b>, Delfi reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the announcement of changes in the security system, we have faced increased pressure from the regime. Almost every day, KGB officers contact our staff, threaten their relatives in Belarus, and carry out cyberattacks. Threats are being directed both personally at S. Tsikhanouskaya and at members of her office. A. Lukashenka\u2019s propaganda is also using this situation to intensify pressure on the entire democratic community,\u201d<\/i> he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not want to speculate about the internal reasons behind this decision by the Lithuanian authorities. We respect any decision and understand that we are guests. We are extremely grateful for everything Lithuania has done over these years. Regardless of the circumstances, we will continue the struggle against the Lukashenka regime,\u201d<\/i> the adviser added.<\/p>\n

Earlier, adviser to the Lithuanian prime minister Ignas Algirdas Dobrovolskas<\/b> said that the decision to transfer security to the police was linked to an assessment of the threat level and that the current level of protection is sufficient. Kuchynski disagrees with this assessment and stresses that the threats remain.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecurity is not only about physical protection. It is also about whether people feel safe overall. At present, the level of threat has not decreased. This has also been publicly confirmed by the head of the State Security Department. The entire security apparatus of the Lukashenka regime is working against us,\u201d<\/i> he said.<\/p>\n

He recalled that several weeks ago Alyaksandr Lukashenka<\/b> publicly called on Lithuania to stop supporting the opposition in Vilnius.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuite recently, he again spoke about Tsikhanouskaya, openly stating that he must not allow her \u2018to win again.\u2019 Can we feel safe under such circumstances? Obviously not. That is precisely why we rely on Lithuania and our other allies,\u201d<\/i> Kuchynski said.<\/p>\n

Asked whether Tsikhanouskaya\u2019s office would consider leaving Lithuania in connection with the change in the level of security, he did not give a direct answer but emphasized that new security measures are currently being assessed. According to him, the office based in Vilnius is operating as usual.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt present, we are assessing new security measures in Lithuania. For now, our office in Vilnius is operating in its normal mode. Our priority is ensuring the safety of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and the entire team,\u201d<\/i> the adviser noted.<\/p>\n

It should be recalled that responsibility for Tsikhanouskaya\u2019s security was transferred to the Criminal Police Bureau from the Government Security Service, which had previously provided her protection. Speaker of the Seimas Juozas Olekas<\/b> said that the change in security does not mean a withdrawal of support for the Belarusian democratic forces and that technical measures are being taken in line with the assessed threat level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Belarusian authorities have stepped up pressure on the democratic community after responsibility for the security of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was transferred to Lithuania\u2019s Criminal Police Bureau. This was stated by diplomatic adviser to the democratic leader Dzianis Kuchynski, Delfi reported. \u201cSince the announcement of changes in the security system, we have faced increased pressure from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":503948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/695907247368e.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"Tsikhanouskaya Office Says Pressure From Regime Has Intensified"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142339,142338],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-507152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main","category-news"],"wps_subtitle":"","permalink_manager":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}