Representatives of the Belarusian opposition emphasize that the situation in the country is very serious. On the one hand, for nearly five years, people in Belarus have been living as if in Stalin-era gulags, experiencing repression and daily arrests. “At least half a million people have had to flee the country,” says Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of the Belarusian opposition, in an interview with the Newseria news agency. Tsikhanouskaya ran for president of Belarus in 2020.
For the past five years, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has been the most prominent figure in the Belarusian opposition. She left her homeland in 2020 after the presidential election in which she ran, and which was widely regarded as rigged. She remains actively engaged in the Belarusian opposition and is recognized as its leader. Currently, she operates from Lithuania, drawing attention to the dire situation of many Belarusians, which, due to the repression by the authorities in Minsk, is considered extremely severe.
“On the one hand, for nearly five years, people in Belarus have been living as if in Stalin-era gulags, experiencing repression and daily arrests. At least half a million people have had to flee the country. We are very grateful to Poland for accepting hundreds of thousands of Belarusians escaping from repression. This demonstrates your solidarity and courage. On the other hand, Belarusian citizens do not give up despite the repression and brutality of the regime. In the country, our movement is mainly underground,” she told Newseria.
According to the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCFEES), Alexander Lukashenko’s regime is solidifying its control over society, systematically employing repression. In 2024 alone, at least 2,000 people were prosecuted for “extremist activities.” Tsikhanouskaya refuses to accept this situation.
“I urge people to take care of their safety and wait for the right moment. When it comes, we will take to the streets and take decisive action. However, for now, we must think about our safety because people are needed in freedom, not in prisons. We have thousands of political prisoners, but we need active members of the movement. In exile, we can be more active. We have established an alternative government in exile. We have formalized relations with the democratic world, including the USA, the UK, and democratic institutions,” says the 2020 Belarusian presidential candidate.
The activities of the Belarusian opposition are also visible in Poland. An example is the “March of Freedom” organized in Warsaw, where slogans questioning the credibility of elections are raised. Political emigrants also draw attention to human rights violations in their homeland.
“I believe that the agency of democratic forces is very strong. We have established many friendly relationships in the European Union and the European Parliament. Of course, the Polish delegation is one of the most active and supportive of us. The campaign in which parliamentarians write letters to political prisoners is extremely important for us because people behind bars lose hope. When they receive letters from the free world, it is like a ray of hope for them,” says Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
An additional challenge is Belarus’ situation in the context of the current geopolitical climate. According to the opposition leader, the fates of Belarus and Ukraine are intertwined.
“Ukraine is not a cake from which a piece can be given to Russia while the rest is left intact. For us Belarusians, it is crucial that Belarus does not remain in Russia’s sphere of influence. Belarus’ independence from Russia is also in the interest of the European Union because only as a democratic state can Belarus be a reliable partner for its Western neighbors,” she points out.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, March 13, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed an agreement on deepening strategic partnership and cooperation between Moscow and Minsk. According to commentators, this is another step toward strengthening the ties between the two countries.
“We see what is happening—Lukashenko, who is Putin’s puppet, is sending migrants to attack the borders with Poland and Lithuania. With Lukashenko in power, there are also constant threats and blackmail involving nuclear weapons. We do not want to be a constant source of threat due to Lukashenko’s rule. We want to be a reliable partner with a democratic government. That is why we demand new elections, the release of all political prisoners, and an end to repression in Belarus,” appeals Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
