Belarus’s exiled opposition leader has a message for the world: stand up against tyranny
As It Happened11:45Belarus’s exiled opposition leader has a message for the world: stand up against tyranny
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is in Canada telling anyone who will listen that democratic countries must unite in opposing tyranny.
By dictator, he refers to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, whose government arrested her husband and sent him into exile, and Lukashenko’s close friend, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Tsikhanouskaya challenged Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, a role she took over from her husband, Syarhei Tsikhanouski, who was arrested days after announcing his candidacy.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for decades, won in a landslide, sparking massive protests across the country. Tsikhanouskaya and her allies, as well as independent election monitors, kept the election rigged in favor of Lukashenko. Several western countries, including Canada, did not recognize his victory.
Since then, Tsikhanouskaya has lived in exile in Lithuania, and has spent the past four years traveling the world, urging leaders to support the pro-democracy movement in Belarus and resistance to Russia in neighboring Ukraine.
He also repeated messages to political and military leaders this past week at the Halifax International Security Forum and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Montreal.
Tsikhanouskaya joined As It Happened hosting Nil Köksal on Monday. Here is part of their conversation.
That was the important message you were trying to convey [this weekend]?
We fully support [the] The fight for the independence of Ukraine, and I think that Ukrainians should be given everything possible to win.
Belarusians … share 1,000 kilometers [of] on the border with Ukraine, and our fates are united. So we want to make sure that Belarus will not be given as [a] a consolation prize for Putin, of which there must be demands [the] democratic country that Russian troops should be withdrawn not only from Ukraine, but also from Belarus, including nuclear weapons.
In Ukraine, the Russians are fighting with missiles, with tanks. In Belarus, we call it creep work. They interfere by using a partner, Lukashenko, who is a dictator and the Belarusian people are against them. They are interfering with our military, our economy, our educational processes. There is a process of Russification. They are destroying our nationality. They want to destroy our country.
That is why we need supporters of our independence … and this can be done by weakening Putin’s regime and weakening Lukashenko’s regime.
Looking ahead to the incoming US administration and what Donald Trump has said so far about how quickly he can end the war, end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are you worried … Belarus will be a hostage?
American aid and assistance to the Ukrainian people is important to the Ukrainian people and to us Belarusians. And I want to believe that the policy towards Ukraine and Belarus will remain the same … because we are fighting global evil. We are in the lead.
When dictators see the inability to make decisions, they see it as weakness. And they don’t really respect the democratic world. They think that they are not united, they are not decisive, and it gives them courage. They cross red line after red line, they challenge the democratic world, and they think that they will not be punished. They feel this punishment.
So [the] the democratic world must remain united and show democracy has teeth.
Dictators are brave. They form alliances. They met each other. And they think they can corrupt the democratic society, they can poison the democratic people with narratives: “Look, it’s not your wars. You don’t have to interfere. Just enjoy your comfortable life.”
But it’s not, because they can knock [on] your doors.
He used the word “consistency,” saying it’s important in terms of Canada’s support for its people and its country. Are you worried about the lack of compatibility with what’s coming in? [U.S.] manage to be real?
I think that when new leaders come to democratic countries, they think they can teach dictators. “I am the one who will change [the] a dictator. You know, I’ll make him a great present, and we’ll change his policy.”
It won’t happen.
The goal should be: Dictators cannot be appeased. Dictators cannot be taught again. Tyrants can only be fought.
Have you talked to members of the incoming administration in the United States?
We have contacts on the Trump team.
I doubt that Belarus is on its way, so we have to explain what is happening in Belarus, that Belarus and Ukraine [are] connected to each other.
When our uprising in Belarus happened back in 2020, it was the Trump administration that was put in place [the] the first sanctions against Lukashenko’s regime.
So now we have to see what actions will follow after this new presidential election.
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Having all these interviews – and you’ve had them for years now, traveling all over the world – is it tiring?
My husband is in prison. My children have not seen him for four years. There are thousands … people suffering behind bars for politically motivated crimes.
Yes, I would like changes [to] it happened quickly. Yes, I want to see strong leadership in democratic countries. And I want, you know, definitive answers to the challenges posed by dictators.
So we cannot get justice in Belarus. So let the international institutions work. And I hope that in the International Court, a special investigation will be started against Lukashenko’s crimes.
In your country, we see reports of new cracksmore than 1,600 – maybe even more – people who were showing solidarity with Ukraine were rounded up. Many have already been arrested. What does that tell you about the new phase in your country of layoffs?
Every day people [are] being arrested for wearing the wrong colors, singing Ukrainian and Belarusian songs, speaking the Belarusian language, protesting oppression, solidarity.
We feel these pressures every day. It is a sign to me that Lukashenko knows, this government knows, that people do not give up.
They know that our movement, the democratic movement, went underground [for] a minute because the fear is still too strong. But the government was not able to change people’s minds about these factors; you know, to make them love this government or trust this government.
They feel very weak. And this sovereignty is the only weapon they have.
The world will be watching Washington, obviously, in early January when the next president is inaugurated. Later that month, in your country there is a so-called election. You called it something else. What do you want the world to know about what will happen in the new year in Belarus?
Lukashenko will have the tradition of re-appointing himself as president, despite losing his legitimacy in 2020.
We don’t ask [people] going to the streets because there will be many victims, political prisoners. And it’s not the time we’re preparing.
Definitely, [there] it will be a time of opportunity for the Belarusian people to resist again … but we have to wait.
People want to contribute in some way to our fight, so we ask them, if you are forced to go to the polling station, [vote] against everyone. Nothing will change. No one will count your votes. But still, it will be like your moral release.
People who don’t want to vote, please don’t go. Because, again, it’s not about the election.
People living in exile … will have a big campaign in all countries where the Belarusian diaspora [are] keep quiet just to highlight the situation in Belarus, to highlight the political prisoners, to highlight this fraudulent election just so it can be seen again.
I think that’s a picture of your husband in your folder there. Do you carry that regularly?
I always need this picture because, you know, fighting for democracy is not easy.
Sometimes I feel exhausted, and I can’t think of where to get the strength to go on. So it’s always like a reminder to me of what I’m fighting for.
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