Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the biggest challenger of President Alexander Lukashenko, talked to Euronews about her fight for a free Belarus from exile.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko dismissed her as a housewife.
00:05But when the Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya entered the race for presidency in 2020,
00:12she became his greatest challenge.
00:14Now that she is in exile, she continues her fight for a free, democratic Belarus.
00:19We met her in Berlin.
00:21So you would say the Belarusian opposition is united, you work,
00:24so you don't have any obstacles within your organization, so to say.
00:29Belarusian democratic forces and people are united as never before,
00:33because we have our common aim,
00:35is release of our beloved, our friends from prisons,
00:39release of our political prisoners, but also having free and fair elections.
00:44Political prisoners exchanged with Russia.
00:46Not one Belarusian political prisoner came out.
00:50Since then, have there been any progress in your negotiations
00:55with politicians from the European Union?
00:58We all want them to be released,
01:01but we don't want our political prisoners,
01:05our heroes to be bugging in chips in this Lukashenko's game.
01:12They are taking more and more and more hostages,
01:15you know, to sell them more expensive.
01:18But we are asking our democratic partners
01:20that don't, you know, trade, don't make any deals with Lukashenko,
01:25don't trade, because he...
01:27OK, he can, like, sell one, two, three hundred people
01:31and he will detain twice more.
01:34As it was recently, Lukashenko released 115 people.
01:38For the same period of time, he detained 140.
01:42Can I ask you a personal question?
01:44What is it that you miss the most about Belarus?
01:50Look, I miss everything.
01:52I miss my apartment that had been confiscated,
01:56but I... this was our nest, nest of our family.
02:01I miss my husband, of course.
02:04But, you know, I... I want to see free Belarus.
02:08Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
02:11wants to run again at the presidential elections in February 2025.
02:16But the Belarusian opposition is stronger than ever,
02:19says the Belarusian oppositionist Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya.
02:23She wants to strengthen relations with Germany
02:25and fights more than ever for a free Belarus.
02:28Diana Reznik, from Berlin, for Euronews.