{"id":964,"date":"2024-07-13T12:04:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-13T10:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/?p=964"},"modified":"2024-07-13T12:02:49","modified_gmt":"2024-07-13T10:02:49","slug":"belarus-is-struggling-interview-with-sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/2024\/07\/13\/belarus-is-struggling-interview-with-sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarus is struggling, Interview with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>We interviewed Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya<\/strong>, leader of the Belarusian opposition and recognized as <strong>President-elect<\/strong> in the elections held in her country in 2020, <strong>the day before she left for the NATO summit <\/strong>held on 9-11 July in Washington in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the interview <strong>we tried to take stock of the situation in her country<\/strong> and what European countries are doing for Belarus. <strong>How important a democratic and independent Belarus is<\/strong> in today context. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/2024\/04\/11\/natos-tasks-on-eastern-flank-interview-with-commander-nfiu-lithuania\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">War in Ukraine<\/a><\/strong>, Lukashenko increasingly dominated by Putin, <strong>Lukashenko hosting Chinese armed forces and nuclear weapons<\/strong> deployed on the borders of NATO countries: primarily Lithuania and Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WATCH THE VIDEO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Interview with SviatlanaTsikhanouskaya, Leader of Belarus opposition ITA SUBTITLES\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i2NU93ASC0M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Interview with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">THE PROTESTS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A long battle for freedom began long before 2020<\/strong> in Belarus, when following fraudulent election t<strong>he dictator Lukashenko won his sixth mandate.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those elections, <strong>Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya took on the leadership of the opposition<\/strong> movement and presented herself as a candidate for president <strong>after the arrest of her husband: Siarhei Tsikhanousky.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He should have been the candidate, but <strong>Lukashenko ended his presidential run with his arrest.<\/strong> He was aware that <strong>he would be a dangerous opponent<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"874\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3-Belarus-Milan-LithuanianStories-1-1024x874.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-965\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3-Belarus-Milan-LithuanianStories-1-1024x874.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3-Belarus-Milan-LithuanianStories-1-300x256.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3-Belarus-Milan-LithuanianStories-1-768x655.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3-Belarus-Milan-LithuanianStories-1-640x546.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3-Belarus-Milan-LithuanianStories-1.jpg 1417w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According to independent observers and experts, <strong>those elections were won by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya<\/strong>, but Lukashenko and his entourage made sure that the result was in their favor. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LithuanianStoriesMarina\/videos\/448965163102863\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>Street protests began<\/strong> <\/a>to spread across Belarus. <strong>Hundreds of thousands of citizens of all ages protested en masse<\/strong> as never before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The participation was massive, but <strong>the repression by the police and KGB agents was also violent.<\/strong> What the country&#8217;s security and intelligence agency is still called. <strong>Legacies of the Soviet period<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arrests, beatings, torture, killings are the specialty of the Belarusian KGB.<\/strong> Worthy heir to the Soviet one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The eyes of the world were on Belarus<\/strong>, but the protests were repressed. <strong>Many dissidents were arrested, many managed to escape<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, together with her children, managed to request asylum in Lithuania<\/strong>. She has since lived in Vilnius and <strong>created a transitional political cabinet<\/strong> with which she promotes the Belarus cause in the world and helps her people in exile. In addition <strong>to continuing the battle against Lukashenko&#8217;s regime.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">EXILE AND POLITICAL PRISONERS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After the 2020 protests, <strong>the regime&#8217;s wave of repression was unleashed<\/strong> against all those who not only protested, but also who were speaking the Belarusian language, rather than the Russian one, in public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to estimates from Tsikhanouskaya&#8217;s office, <strong>after 2020 at least five hundred thousand to one million people left the country<\/strong> out of a total population of around nine and a half million. Most of the exiles requested asylum in Poland. <strong>Lithuania welcomed sixty-two thousand<\/strong>. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LithuanianStoriesMarina\/videos\/1063590167408089\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Italy about ten thousand<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Human rights organizations believe that <strong>there are currently fifteen hundred political prisoners in Belarus<\/strong>. In itself, says Sviatlana \u201cIt&#8217;s just a number, but <strong>behind every number there are people&#8217;s lives and thousands of families divided<\/strong>, thousands of children growing up without their mother, father and sometimes both. Fifteen hundred political prisoners mean <strong>people who are tortured in prisons, people who are dying slowly\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Political prisoners are held in complete isolation<\/strong>. Nobody can communicate with them. Sviatlana, like others, has not heard from her husband for over a year. No phone calls. <strong>The relatives of the prisoners cannot go to visit them<\/strong>, also because many would risk arrest, they cannot call, and <strong>the regime does not give out any ne<\/strong>ws. Will they be alive, sick, dead\u2026?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"749\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/13-Belarus-Milan-LithuanianStories-2-1024x749.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-966\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/13-Belarus-Milan-LithuanianStories-2-1024x749.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/13-Belarus-Milan-LithuanianStories-2-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/13-Belarus-Milan-LithuanianStories-2-768x562.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/13-Belarus-Milan-LithuanianStories-2-640x468.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/13-Belarus-Milan-LithuanianStories-2.jpg 1417w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">NATO SUMMIT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the last four years <strong>Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has visited all the countries of the democratic world:<\/strong> from the USA to the European Union, from Australia to Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nato.int\/cps\/en\/natohq\/topics_50115.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">The NATO summit<\/a><\/strong> that has just ended could not be missed (the last one <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/2024\/02\/03\/lithuania-30-years-in-nato-remembering-the-summit-in-vilnius\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">was held in Vilnius<\/a><\/strong>). We asked her for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the press gave little attention to the news,<strong> Belarus is also included in the official summit statement.<\/strong> \u201c\u2026I am glad that NATO countries agreed to support Ukraine because the fates of Belarus and Ukraine are intertwined. <strong>We are just beginning our cooperation with the Alliance<\/strong> and want Belarus to be seen not only as a threat but also as a partner&#8230;&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDuring the summit <strong>I had the opportunity to meet ministers, officials and experts from different countries<\/strong>. We mainly discussed <strong>how to help Ukraine, how to make sanctions against Lukashenko effective<\/strong> and how to support the democratic movement in Belarus. We also talked about countering propaganda, both Russian and Lukashenko&#8217;s&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tsikhanouskaya, in our interview, <strong>reiterates the importance of a democratic and independent Belarus for the stability of all Europe<\/strong>. \u201c\u2026If in Ukraine Putin fights with missiles and tanks and continues <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/2024\/02\/25\/lithuania-rally-for-ukraine-anniversary-full-scale-russian-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">a horrible war<\/a><\/strong>, in Belarus there is a creeping occupation. In Belarus, the <strong>Kremlin is destroying national identity, tying the Belarusian economy to Russia<\/strong> and doing everything to <strong>consolidate its control over the country&#8221;<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WATCH THE VIDEO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Interview with SviatlanaTsikhanouskaya, Leader of Belarus opposition ITA SUBTITLES\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i2NU93ASC0M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Interview with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We interviewed Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the Belarusian opposition and recognized as President-elect in the elections held in her country in 2020, the day before she left for the NATO summit held on 9-11 July in Washington in the United<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,1],"tags":[27,211,13,11,57,174,91,156,212,119],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":967,"href":"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964\/revisions\/967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lithuanianstories.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}