September 20, Pozirk. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has opened a Belarusian office in Vilnius.
USAID Assistant Administrator Erin Elizabeth McKee told the opening ceremony that support for Belarusians’ democratic aspirations will go on, the agency reported.
USAID started supporting them in 1999, and the cooperation continued through difficult moments, including in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, during the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2020 political crisis, she said.
In addition, the agency contributed to the boom of the Belarusian startup and IT sectors.
As long as Belarusian citizens are committed to democracy, we remain committed to them, McKee said.
US Ambassador to Lithuania Kara McDonald highlighted the long-standing partnership between Vilnius and Washington and thanked the Lithuanian government and people for permanently supporting Belarusian citizens and Ukraine in their struggle for sovereignty and freedom.
On September 20, Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja received McKee in Vilnius, Cichanoŭskaja’s chief adviser Franak Viačorka told Pozirk.
She thanked USAID and the US government for backing Belarusian civil society and strategic dialogue between Belarusians and Americans, as well as for raising the Belarusian issue in the international arena.
The women discussed US assistance for independent Belarusian media, human rights activists, cultural projects, businesses and education programs.
The Belarusian opposition leader told McKee about the launch of the International Humanitarian Fund for Political Prisoners and invited the USA to join it.
USAID was forced to close its office in Minsk in 2021.
