New Czech president assures opposition leader of support

February 18, BPN. The Czech Republic is ready to support democratic Belarus, Petr Pavel, a retired general recently elected Czech president, told Belarusian opposition leader Sviatłana Cichanoŭskaja.

It is important to respect human rights, democracy and the rule of law, and take practical steps to protect them, Pavel said following their meeting at the Munich Security Conference.

Cichanoŭskaja invited Pavel to support the Prague-based representation of the Belarusian opposition and assist Belarusian students currently subject to visa restrictions imposed over Belarus’ regime’s complicity in Russia’s war on Ukraine, her aide Franak Viačorka told BPN.

She also asked the new Czech president to support the resolution of the Czech Senate to declare the Belarusian Committee for State Security (KGB) and the interior ministry’s organized crime unit organizations that support terrorism.

Cichanoŭskaja welcomed the downgrade of the Czech diplomatic presence in Minsk and Pavel’s decision to invite Tomáš Pernický, the Czech ambassador to Belarus, to his new team.

The Czech diplomatic mission in Minsk will be headed by a chargé d’affaires who will not have to present credentials to Alaksandr Łukašenka, as Prague does not regard him as the legitimate president of Belarus.