Current threats to the future of Belarus and Europe - A keynote address by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

In her address to the IIEA, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Leader of the Belarusian Democratic Movement, discusses the current threats to the future of Belarus and Europe, including human rights violations, the impact of economic sanctions against Belarus, and Lukashenka's acceptance of a plan to place Russian nuclear arms in Belarus. In March of 2023, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report on the Situation of human rights in Belarus in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election and in its aftermath. The report details systematic and widespread human rights violations as a direct result of the policies employed by the current Government of Belarus. This event is part of the IIEA’s Global Europe Project, which is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs. About the Speaker Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is the Leader of the Belarusian Democratic Movement, who contested the 2020 Belarusian presidential election as the main opposition candidate, following the detention of her husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski. Following the disputed result of the Presidential Election, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya has been based in Lithuania as the official representative of the Belarusian democratic opposition in exile where she heads the Coordination Council to facilitate the peaceful democratic transfer of power in Belarus. In March 2023, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya was convicted in absentia by a court in Minsk and found guilty of high treason, inciting social hatred, attempts to seize power, forming an “extremist” group and harming national security. Before running for President, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya was an English teacher and interpreter, and has since been awarded the Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament.