August 8, Pozirk. Several dozen people took part in a protest outside the Lithuanian foreign ministry in Vilnius, calling for the closure of Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja’s Office.
The event was organized by Lithuanian MP Vitautas Sinica, Delfi reported.
Speaking at the rally, Sinica said Lithuania had initially hoped to use the Office to draw Belarus closer to the West and away from Russia, but that plan had failed. He urged the government to look for new approaches, arguing that Cichanoŭskaja’s activities “do not help resolve the problems of the growing Belarusian diaspora.”
One counterdemonstrator, holding a sign reading “Lithuania, thank you for your support,” argued that the rally played into the hands of Alaksandar Łukašenka’s regime. Sinica replied that the protest was neither for nor against Łukašenka. “Quite the contrary, this is a protest against what Lithuania is doing for the Belarusian opposition does not change Belarus in any way,” he said.
He added that the demonstration was not aimed against the Belarusian opposition itself, but sought to “draw attention to the activities and funding of the Cichanoŭskaja Office.”
Mindaugas Stanys, of the Lithuanian foreign ministry, said shortly before the rally that Lithuania continued to support the Belarusian opposition because doing so was in the country’s national security interests. He stressed that the government had no plans to close the Office.
The protest comes two weeks after the ministry announced it would not consider Sinica’s request to shut down the Office. The ministry emphasized that “the mission’s accreditation should remain in place and be valid until citizens of Belarus and democratic forces representing them can make decisions on their state’s future freely and in a democratic way.”
Earlier, in an appeal to the foreign minister published on the Seimas website on July 22, Sinica claimed that Belarusian pro-democracy forces were misusing Lithuania’s “hospitality and goodwill” to create “an alternative Belarus” in the country rather than build “good-neighborly relations.”
Sinica accused Cichanoŭskaja of failing to “decisively condemn” Litvinism – a conspiracy theory suggesting that Belarusians might press territorial claims against Lithuania as heirs to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He also criticized her for opposing “plans to limit immigration from Belarus, motivated by national security concerns.”
He further attacked Cichanoŭskaja’s husband, opposition politician Siarhiej Cichanoŭski, calling his activities “particularly harmful.” Sinica alleged that Cichanoŭski had supported Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and had spoken of plans to create a Belarusian autonomy in Lithuania.
“Such public statements should be regarded as an encroachment on Lithuania’s territorial integrity and state structure. We should strongly condemn them,” he said.
On July 23, Cichanoŭskaja’s Office issued a statement assuring Sinica that it worked to strengthen Lithuanian–Belarusian ties, “appreciates the assistance of Lithuania, its government and people,” and thanks Vilnius for its “long-standing support of Belarusians fighting for peaceful democratic and European reforms in the country.”
The statement also stressed that Sinica’s appeal “contains unreliable and false information and harms friendly relations between the Lithuanian and Belarusian peoples.”
