Six years after disputed elections transformed Belarus, Kyiv is renewing a message of solidarity that reaches beyond today\u2019s commemorative statements.<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Minister addressed the sixth anniversary of the mass protests in Belarus following the 2020 presidential election in a post on X.<\/p>\n
According to the minister, their choice was met with repression. However, years of pressure, imprisonment, and forced exile have not broken the Belarusian people\u2019s desire for freedom, democracy, and sovereignty.<\/p>\n
Six years ago, on August 9, Belarusians clearly demonstrated their will for democratic change and their right to determine the future of their own country<\/p>\n
\u2013 an X post<\/p>\n
The Foreign Minister expressed hope that Belarus would become a free, independent, and European state where its future would be determined by its citizens, not Moscow.<\/p>\n
A free Belarus belongs in a free Europe<\/p>\n
\u2013 Sybiha<\/p>\n
The minister added that Ukraine would continue working with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and all Belarusians seeking democratic change.<\/p>\n
Context of the 2020 events in Belarus<\/p>\n
In August 2020, a presidential election was held in Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner, but many observers believed that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya had won.<\/p>\n
On August 9, mass protests against the falsification of the election results began in the country. The authorities brutally suppressed the demonstrations and launched a campaign of repression against the opposition.<\/p>\n
Ukraine emphasizes its support for the Belarusian people and maintains contact with Belarusian opposition figures, prioritizing freedom, sovereignty, and the country\u2019s European choice.<\/p>\n
The distinction between the Belarusian people and the actions of the Lukashenko regime highlights shared values with Europe and calls for respect for human rights in the region.<\/p>\n
Overall, Ukraine\u2019s position is one of support for the Belarusian people and a call for respect for human rights, sovereignty, and the country\u2019s European course, encouraging peaceful and democratic progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Six years after disputed elections transformed Belarus, Kyiv is renewing a message of solidarity that reaches beyond today\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[70,2009,2010,2011,95,71,2012],"class_list":["post-4920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-alexander-lukashenko","tag-andrii-sybiha","tag-belarus-protests-2020","tag-belarusian-democracy","tag-news","tag-sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya","tag-ukraine-belarus-relations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}