Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya, the leader of the democratic opposition in Belarus, expressed her gratitude to Romania and President Klaus Iohannis for the support that Bucharest, together with Warsaw and Vilnius, has given to the democratic movement and the peaceful demonstrators that took the streets of Minsk and other Belarusian cities against the oppressive regime of Aleksandr Lukashenko.

Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya, who took refuge in Lithuania, made this comments in an online intervention during a debate organized in Bucharest by the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania and the Centre for Conflict Prevention and Early Warning (CPC-EW) at the Romanian Diplomatic Institute.

“Given the opportunity, I would like to take the time to express my gratitude to our Romanian friends, who’s President (e.n. – Klaus Iohannis) on September 21st together with his Polish and Lithuanian colleagues signed a letter to the international community to help ensure that Belarusians receive the support we drastically need in our economical, political, and social transition. (…) The old saying, and friend in need is a friend indeed, has never seemed more resonant for Belarusians as our country is ruled by an autocrat giving order to use violence on peaceful demonstrators. We welcome, every bit of solidarity, as support, and we feel the support from Romania, Lithuania and Poland“, Tikhanovskaya said.

“Not so long ago, in 1989, Romania, Poland and Lithuania walked in the same shoes. Today, the time for Belarusians has come to unshackle ourselves, to acknowledge and let go the ghosts of our past and to look into the future“, she added.