Cichanoŭskaja asks Irish premier to give Belarusians visa-free travel option

January 20, BPN. Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja has asked Irish premier Leo Varadkar to allow Belarusians to enter Ireland with UK visas. Cichanoŭskaja’s office reports that they met at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos on January 20. Ireland removed Belarusians from its visa waiver program after Russia had invaded Ukraine.

Cichanoŭskaja “thanked Leo Varadkar for support of Belarusian human rights defenders and media,” particularly for financial aid to “a major Belarusian newsroom and an international platform for collecting evidence of Alaksandr Łukašenka’s crimes.”

The politicians discussed “the possibility of supporting Belarusian cultural initiatives, including those aimed at expanding the Belarusian language,” and the prospects of joint Belarusian-Irish projects.

“Cichanoŭskaja thanked him for the work of the Irish ambassador to Lithuania and Belarus and for the Irish Embassy’s active cooperation with the Belarusian democratic forces. She noted that many Irish MPs, including those from the premier’s party, became Belarusian political prisoners’ guardians. She called for a more active discussion on Belarusian reprisals and political prisoners and for efforts to free them,” the office said.

Varadkar invited Cichanoŭskaja to visit Ireland, it added.