The Belarusian opposition leader, in exile for two years, is now for the first time on Canadian soil to ask for help from the Trudeau government. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya would like Canada to raise its voice against the regime in place and support civil society and democracy on the ground. And she warns that ignoring what is happening in her country, worrying only about the war in Ukraine, would be a serious mistake, because the fate of one and the other is intimately linked in the face of imperialist aims of Russia.
“Today, the very existence of Belarus is threatened”, slice bluntly Mme Tikhanovskaya, who fled her country following the 2020 election to seek refuge in Lithuania with her children. She had just run for president in place of her husband, the youtuber and pro-democracy activist Sergei Tikhanovski, arrested and imprisoned three months before the election.
“We must prevent Belarus from being absorbed by Russia”, hammered Monday Mme Tikhanovskaïa, during a round table organized with a handful of Canadian media.
The 40-year-old politician is leading a tour during which she will meet with Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday, as well as senators and MPs.
However, the international issue that has been on everyone’s lips for nearly a year is the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And not the political situation in Belarus and the repression of President Alexander Lukashenko, who declared himself the winner of a sixth term despite allegations of electoral fraud.
Mme Tikhanovskaïa does not fear that her requests will be ignored by Ottawa. The conversation was also started this weekend, with the Minister of Defense, Anita Anand, at an international forum on security in Halifax.
The Belarusian delegation notably highlighted the political and military risk in the region, but also for Canada, the United States, the European Union and NATO. “We discussed whether it is acceptable to wait for Belarus to become just a launching pad for Russia, which uses Belarus for its provocations and threats. For us, it is definitely not,” argued Valery Kavaleuski, foreign affairs representative of Ms.me Tikhanovskaya.
Sanctions and help
The Lukashenko regime had allowed Russian troops to enter Ukraine from its territory in February. The president is now taking advantage of this war to continue his repression – by arresting political prisoners every day – and his crimes against humanity, denounces Ms.me Tikhanovskaya. “The citizens of Belarus are being tortured by their government without any consequences,” she protests.
She and her colleagues will therefore ask the Canadian government to impose new sanctions, in addition to those imposed since 2020, on other members and entities of the regime.
She also hopes for humanitarian aid to support these political prisoners — like her own husband — and their families, as well as to support an independent press on the ground. Canada has provided three million dollars in aid since 2020. The Belarusian opposition is seeking to raise an additional 82 million. The United States and the European Union have pledged around 60 million. It remains to close the gap.
The Leader of the Opposition also intends to invite Ottawa to consider facilitating the granting of visas for Belarusians.
She and her team are also trying to convince certain international organizations, such as the United Nations, to take action against the president for the crimes committed within the framework of the repression and his assistance offered during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “If Belarus hadn’t offered a springboard to Russian troops, this war wouldn’t even have started at all. He must face justice, ”insists Mme Tikhanovskaya.
A behind-the-scenes collaboration
Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa maintains that hundreds of thousands of Belarusians are participating in resistance efforts in her country. By sabotaging railways for a year, where Russian military equipment was to pass, or by informing the Ukrainians of other movements of personnel.
In the opinion of M.me Tikhanovskaya, a possible participation of the Belarusian army in Ukraine would be unlikely, since the troops would ignore such an order from President Lukashenko. Especially in the face of the advances of the Ukrainian forces and the retreat of those of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
On the contrary, the Belarusian resistance is preparing for the “victory plan”, she swears, when Alexander Lukashenko has been weakened enough to be replaced. “It may not be a matter of a specific moment. It could be a longer process, like when the Cold War ended. And we will have to carefully watch these changes from the Kremlin in its support of Lukashenko. »
But that moment will come, insists Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa. “When people see that there is solidarity between them, they can rise up again. Our role is to maintain this flame, so that they are ready to activate later. »