Cichanoŭskaja: Ukraine and Europe will never be safe if Russia keeps Belarus

October 4, Pozirk. Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja has told the Warsaw Security Forum that Ukraine and all of Europe will never be safe if Belarus “remains in Russian claws,” and therefore the Belarusian resistance is “of key importance.”

“For the whole last century, we, Belarusians, were among those who lived in the black shadow of Russia. Together with Lithuanians, Estonians, Ukrainians, Georgians and many other nations,” she said, according to her spokeswoman.

“Eventually, we all have stepped out of this shadow. We Belarusians definitely did it in 2020, with our peaceful revolution that still goes on. After 2020, the whole world knows that Belarus is not Russia. And will never be,” Cichanoŭskaja stressed.

She called on the world to stop perceiving Belarus as “some part of Russia,” because its culture, history, language and identity were different.

“We were part of Europe many centuries before Russia came to Belarus,” she said. “In Ukraine, as in Belarus, Russia pursues the same goal: colonization and subjugation… Belarus can be a success story. But we have to give people hope. Such hope is a European perspective for Belarus as an alternative to the ‘Russian World.'”

She also called for helping Ukraine win “this unjust war”: “Victory of Ukraine will be the ultimate defeat of [Vladimir] Putin and [Alaksandar] Łukašenka. Many Belarusians fight for Ukrainian freedom as we speak. Many of them gave their lives in this fight.”