Belarusian Opposition Leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya receives a permanent office in Brussels from the Flemish Government

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1. **Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya is being given an office in Brussels by the Flemish government. An important step, she says, in the fight for freedom in her country.**

   Does this mean you are now exchanging your exile in Lithuania for our country?

   “I am not leaving beautiful Lithuania for good, but we want to represent Belarus in more and more countries. Brussels is the heart for international institutions, and this mission is a bridge between Belarusians and the EU. Vladimir Astapenka will be here permanently as a representative of the Belarusian shadow cabinet. He is an ex-diplomat who defected to democratic forces after the events of 2020.

   “I am very grateful to the Flemish government. I still remember the meeting with Flemish Prime Minister Jambon in Lithuania. A short meeting in May, with already important results. Things rarely go so efficiently in international politics.

   “Putin has been pushing Belarusian President Lukashenko to deploy troops in Ukraine for some time. Why doesn’t the latter do so?

   “Lukashenko assumed a blitzkrieg in February and then bet everything on Russian victory. That failed and now he sees his boat sink along with the Russian ship.”Now he must show loyalty to Putin, who supported him in his 2020 coup and is his only ally. But on the other hand, Lukashenko wants to avoid responsibility for war crimes. He did allow Russian attacks on Ukraine to happen from our territory, but I am sure that the Belarusian army would not participate in an operation in Ukraine. They have neither the capacity nor the sense for that.

   “Lukashenko is now trying to convince the population that Ukraine wants to attack them. We are expecting provocations on the border that he will use as a reason to counterattack. They are looking for casus belli. I therefore welcome Zelensky’s demand for neutral observation teams on the border.”

   You addressed Ukrainian President Zelensky on Tuesday with a message. Has he responded yet?

   “My main message to Zelensky and the Ukrainians is that we support them and our fates are linked. The Kremlin does not consider both Ukraine and Belarus as independent countries. So it is high time for a coalition between the democratic forces in both countries.”I did not receive a response yet. I understand that Ukraine did not want to irritate Lukashenko too much in 2020, but now that Ukrainian cities have been bombarded from Belarusian territory, it is hard to understand why the Ukrainian government is so reticent. I am not asking to be photographed with Zelensky, but a joint strategy would be helpful. As long as Belarus is not free, but occupied by Putin, it will always be a threat to Ukraine.”

   How does the average Belarusian view this war?

   “Despite the propaganda, you won’t find anyone in Belarus who sincerely supports this war. When the invasion began, there were massive protests, and this despite the repression. Our partisans risked the death penalty for their sabotage of Russian troops and passing information about troop movements to Ukraine.”

   “People there live in constant fear. Did you post an anti-war comment somewhere or watch banned alternative media? Then you can already end up behind bars. Almost everyone has a bag ready with underwear and toothpaste: you can be kidnapped at any moment.”

   Your own husband has therefore been detained since 2020. Are you still in contact?

   “The only way to communicate with political prisoners is through the lawyers, who can visit them to see if they are still alive. I live with constant pain and fear, but at least I am free and can hug our children.”

   Translated with [[www.DeepL.com/Translator]](http://www.DeepL.com/Translator%5D)