According to her, Lithuania has provided refuge to thousands of Belarusians fleeing the Minsk regime, and cooperation with Vilnius remains tense.
This is what Tsikhanouskaya said when asked about the previously reported incident that she had written a letter to Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė before leaving Lithuania, but was ignored. Journalists asked whether Tsikhanouskaya read such a position of the head of government as a kind of signal.
„First of all, I want to emphasise that personally and on behalf of all the people of Belarus, I am very grateful to the people and government of Lithuania, and to the president, for their strong and consistent support for Belarusians. Lithuania, which has maintained a principled position on pressure on the regime, has become a haven for tens of thousands of people who have escaped repression. Therefore, I really do not want to make any political drama out of this situation,“ Tsikhanouskaya told journalists in the Seimas on Monday.
„Yes, we have a new security protocol in Lithuania. This forced me to make this decision so that I would feel safer in Poland. But this does not mean that our relations (with Lithuania – Lrytas) are changing,“ she explained.
Tsikhanouskaya assured that after the change in the level of protection in Lithuania, she had to decide to move to Warsaw.
„It made me make this decision so that I would feel safer in Poland. But that doesn't mean that our relationship is changing. Yesterday I was so happy to return to Lithuania, everything is so familiar here – it's my second home. Therefore, situations can be different. But I know that the (Lithuanian – Lrytas) government, Seimas and the president support us,“ she said.
As reported, Dzianis Kučinskis, an advisor to the Belarusian opposition leader who moved to Warsaw, claimed on the Lrytas program „Deciphering the Essence with Dovydas Pancerovas“ that before leaving Lithuania, Tsikhanouskaya wrote a letter to Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė, but was ignored.
According to the advisor, Tsikhanouskaya office sought compromises regarding the level of protection for the Belarusian opposition leader in Lithuania. However, no response was received when contacting the head of government.
„We were looking for that compromise, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya wrote a letter to the prime minister, but we did not receive a response,“ he said.
„No. We didn't get a response. We tried to meet, but somehow,“ he repeated when asked if he had received a response from the prime minister or representatives of her team.
Last December, it emerged that the police were taking over Tsikhanouskaya's protection in Lithuania from the Leadership Security Service (VAT). A little later, several members of Tsikhanouskaya's team told the AFP news agency that she intended to move from Lithuania to Poland.
Tsikhanouskaya started working in Warsaw at the beginning of February. However, the Vilnius office continues to operate in Lithuania.
Lifting fertiliser sanctions would only strengthen the Minsk regime
On Monday, during the celebration of the anniversary of the independence of the Belarusian People's Republic in the Seimas, Tsikhanouskaya, who is currently in Vilnius, also attended the events.
She commented on the recent ongoing discussions about the possibility of lifting sanctions on Belarusian fertilisers. According to the oppositionist, such decisions would strengthen the Minsk regime and its ability to blackmail Lithuania and other countries in the region.
„I think there may always be a temptation to return to business-as-usual trade with Lukashenko, (...) but we have to think strategically – Lukashenko does not want good relations with Lithuania, he simply needs money for repression, for the war against Ukraine, to serve Russia, to erase everything that is Belarusian,“ said the Belarusian opposition leader.
„If the sanctions are lifted, it will only strengthen Lukashenko – it will strengthen blackmail and threats against Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, so I ask the brave people of Lithuania, who know how much freedom costs, (to maintain sanctions – Lrytas), (...) because losing democracy is so easy, and regaining it is not so easy,“ said S. Tsikhanouskaya.
The possible lifting of sanctions on Belarusian fertilisers is being discussed in Lithuania after US special envoy to Belarus John Coale encouraged Vilnius to restore ties with Minsk in an interview with LRT.
The US envoy noted that he believes that opportunities should be created to transport Belarusian potash fertilisers through Lithuania.
Releasing political prisoners is a priority, but the task is to liberate the entire country
A couple of weeks ago, US special envoy Coale, who participated in the negotiations in Minsk, announced that Washington was lifting sanctions on the Belarusian bank Belinvestbank and the Development Bank, as well as the country's Ministry of Finance and fertiliser companies, including Belaruskali.
The Minsk regime also released 250 political prisoners.
The Belarusian opposition leader admits that the release of political prisoners is one of her main priorities. However, according to her, the main task is to liberate all of Belarus from the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.
„Trump has enough power to release all Belarusian political prisoners, but we ask the Europeans to keep more valuable cards for the bigger game. The release of political prisoners is our priority, but the task is to liberate the entire country,“ the opposition leader asserted.
„When the Americans lift some sanctions or invite Lukashenko to the Peace Council, this is also done for the sake of releasing people, but (…) political prisoners would never have been released without a strong and principled position of the European Union. European sanctions are much stronger than American ones. US sanctions were imposed mainly due to human rights violations in Belarus and can be used to negotiate the release of people. At that time, most of the European Union sanctions were announced due to the regime's involvement in the war, due to (…) repressions, attacks on neighbours.
„Therefore, we encourage our partners in Europe to remain consistent and not copy Trump's policy principles when it comes to Lukashenko,“ she emphasised.