The visit by Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, the exiled Belarusian opposition leader, comes amid Russia’s continued war against Ukraine, an increased Russian nuclear threat to Europe exacerbated by the Minsk regime’s hosting of tactical nuclear weapons under Moscow’s command, and the recent arrival of mercenary Wagner Group fighters on Belarusian territory. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya addresses MEPs in the European Parliament’s hemicycle in Strasbourg. Address by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

EU - Belarus (T)

formal sitting

TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Sviatlana (BY)

Formal sitting: Address by Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, Madame President Metsola, dear Roberta, distinguished Members of the European Parliament, when I was here two years ago, I spoke about tyranny is a virus. A virus that will not be contained by borders.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, And the past two years have shown that the virus of tyranny can mutate into the deadly cancer of war. Unlike the war in Ukraine, ours is a quiet war. The goal of the Kremlin in this war is the same as in Ukraine, to turn a sovereign country, Belarus, into yet another Russian colony.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, And Putin is not doing this alone. He is doing it in cooperation with Loekasjenko, who is selling our country and selling our independency. Piece by piece. Quietly, they are tightening their grip on our economy, our military, our institutions. Quietly, they destroy our civil society, political parties, media. Quietly, they eradicate our national identity. Their goal is clear. To absorb and assimilate.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, They cut all links to our values, history and culture. Anything that anchors us to Europe. The ultimate goal is to prevent Belarus from becoming a truly European democratic nation, to keep an open wound at the heart of the European continent.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, So, that Europe to cannot become whole continent in peace. But they will fail. The terror they unleashed against Belarusians has made us even more determined. No tyranny, KGB or Wagner thugs can kill the desire for freedom in Belarus.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, Great Belarusians demonstrate true heroism and enduring resilience in this quiet war that remains quiet. Heroes. Heroes like Dmitry Klimov, when Russians try to make a shortcut to Kiev from Belarus, he destroyed railway equipment by halting trains loaded with Russian tanks. And what did the KGB do? They arrested him and put bullets through his knees. Dmitry and 11 other railway partisans were sentenced to a total of 200 years in prison.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, Heroes like Marfa Rabkova, who volunteered for Viasna, human rights organisation led by Ales Bialiatski, our Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, behind bars. Marfa was sentenced to 15 years of prison for documenting the atrocities of the regime.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, Many quiet heroes are carrying out small acts of defiance in factories and ministries, in the schools and in the army, teachers who refuse to instruct children in state ideology. Honest officers who leak valuable information, businessmen who secretly donate to families of repressed. Heroes like our pensioners. You know, recently a few grannies called me to say that they quietly gather to read "extremist" media together.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, And they also asked me to tell Europeans that we haven't given up. Even speaking the Belarusian language today is also an act of heroism. The museum worker who conducted tours in Belarussian language was interrogated as if he was a terrorist. Our heroes are also countless Belarusians who lost their homes and well-paid jobs and are now in exile, helping Belarusian military volunteers in Ukraine.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, Heroes like Natallia Suslava, a university teacher from would know from joining whose son Pavel 'Volat', give his life fighting for Ukraine. And she went there and became a caring mother to his brothers in arms. Our brave various fight because they know that the battle for Ukraine is a fight for freedom of us all.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, And heroes like Ales Pushkin, a famous painter who raised the European flag in front of the police cordon. Later, he was arrested and accused of promoters of promoting nazism. And now he is dead. He murdered in prison in Hrodna.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, And today at this Chamber, I would like to honour the memory of all my compatriots who have lost their lives for the freedom of Belarus and Ukraine. These are our heroes Belarusians, Europeans.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, Unfortunately, the war and repression became a part of our life. My seven-year-old daughter recently asked me to give you some money. I asked her what for? And can you imagine what she replied. I want to buy a tank to free my daddy. And every week she writes postcards to her father, though she doesn't receive an answer. And for me, she's my little hero.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, Her father, my husband, Siarhei, was sentenced to 19 years, and I haven't had a word from him for six months already. And he is my big hero, the biggest in my life.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, Ladies and gentlemen, tyrants want to see the European Union as a decadent house of cards ready to collapse. But for us, Europe is home and a family, and we, belarusians, just like Ukrainians or Moldovans and other freedom loving countries want to be part of that family too. We want to return home back to Europe.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, You know, Europe is in our DNA from Francysk Skaryna, who brought the European renaissance to Belarus, to Mark Chagall, who brought his unique vision from Belarus to Europe. And we chose Europe centuries ago. And we reconfirmed this choice in 2020. You know, sometimes I can hear people say, how come that in 2020 there were no European flags at the protests? Of course, they were. Our national white, red, white flag is a European flag. This colours symbolise freedom, our European past and our European future.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, Europe is where we come from and it is where we're are heading. One month ago, Belarus and Democratic Democratic forces passed a joint declaration defining our strategic objective. Belarus membership in the European Union. I know it will take time. I know it will not be easy, but there is no way back for us. The European Union is our ultimate destination. Period.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, You know, when I see all these beautiful flags, I can imagine how proud you feel seeing yours, among others. And I wish one day to see our white red, white flag here as well. I wish to see democratically elected representatives of Belarus sitting in this room and I want the Belarussian language, which suffered so much through centuries of fresh examination, to become one of the EU's official languages.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, Without Belarus and Ukraine, the European project will not be completed. The European Union, from Lisbon to Minsk is a nightmare for Putin, but for us it's a reality we thrive to live in. Belarus and Ukraine in the European Union will lead to the ultimate collapse of evil empire once and for all.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, Dear friends, came to the European Parliament to ask you to support the European perspective for Belarus.Belarusians want to hear from you that the EU is waiting for us. The Russians want to hear that our country will not be given to Putin as consolation prize. So I urge you to support the resolution introduced by Petras Austrevicius that highlights the European aspirations of Belarusians.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, I propose to take the relationship between democratic Belarus and the European Parliament to a new level and institutionalise our cooperation. I am confident that we can do it before the upcoming EP elections. Hundreds of thousands of my fellow citizens had to flee repression.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, Hundreds of thousands found a safe haven across the European Union and now also contribute to the welfare and prosperity of your countries. I would like to thank all countries, especially Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, who, against all odds, opened their arms and issued life saving visas and permits to fleeing Belarusians.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, PACE prepared an excellent report on the migration challenges Belarusians are facing. I call on all European states to follow the recommendations of this resolution. Now, the situation is going to become even worse. Last week, Lukashenka signed a decree to deny passports and property rights to Belarusians abroad unless they returned to Belarus. It puts at risk the legal status of hundreds of thousands of people, and we need a quick and lasting solution that will allow them to stay safe.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, And now we are working to start issuing national Belarusian passports. We are grateful to your governments and experts in the European Commission for their advice on this matter. This document will confirm Belarusian citizenship and will serve as travel documents for exiled Belarusians.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, Actually, here we are taking lessons from the Baltic States who were issuing the passports in exile during the Soviet occupation. And very soon we will come to your governments asking to recognise our new passports. Let's not stop putting pressure on dictators. Sanctions must not have loopholes or derogations. We are dealing with professional thugs who abuse their rules and institutions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, And finally, help us to bring Lukashenka to account. Murdering opponents by death squads. The torture of peaceful protesters. The abduction of Ukrainian kids, launching a quiet war against Belarusians and collaboration in the war against Ukraine. He has a long record of crimes. He does not deserve any place at international fora. The only thing he deserves a one-way ticket to The Hague.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, And I really wonder how some people still dare to call him President. Let me make it clear he is fraud. Belarusians hate life. You hate dictatorship. We, belarusians love freedom and we are Europe. The members of the European Parliament, I want to thank each of you and your political groups for your support and solidarity.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, I know, and I feel how strongly you stand to our cause. Especially, I want to thank my close friend Roberta. Your leadership and your dedication to free Belarus inspires me and sets an example for others.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA, Belarusian opposition leader, The Great European, Vaclav Havel, once said, "I believe that the future of Belarus is closely connected with the future of Europe, and the future of Europe is connected with the future of democratic and independent Belarus. And I do believe that one day we will welcome Belarus into the European Union". So let's make this come true. Жыве Беларусь! Слава Украіне!  Long Live Europe!