Cichanoŭskaja urges MPs from NATO countries to help Belarus get away from Russia

May 21, BPN. Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja has presented a five-step plan for the Belarusian democratic future in Europe in her address to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s political committee in Luxembourg.

The plan focuses on Belarus’ withdrawal from the Union State with Russia and Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as well as improving relations with its Western neighbors and Ukraine and engaging in broad regional cooperation.

“The transition from dictatorship to democracy is not possible while Belarus is chained to Moscow,” Cichanoŭskaja noted. “Every Russian soldier must leave Belarus immediately. An illegitimate Russian military presence in Belarus is a threat not only to our country but to other nations too.”

Belarus also needs to expand cooperation with the European Union and its institutions, join the Council of Europe and implement reforms based on the best European practice, Cichanoŭskaja added.

“Democratic Belarus will become a reliable and responsible international partner,” she said. “We will adopt a new constitution that will prevent Belarus from falling again into tyranny and will build democratic institutions to rule out the abuse of power.”

The situation in Belarus can change suddenly and the international community needs a strategy “to use the momentum when it happens and prevent Russia from interfering,” the opposition leader noted.

She called for more economic sanctions against Alaksandr Łukašenka’s regime and support to Belarusian civil society and opposition. Possible lifting of some sanctions on potash fertilizers would be a “strategic mistake and a victory for [Vladimir] Putin and Łukašenka,” she warned.

“Russia’s defeat in this war will give us a historical opportunity to return to the European family of nations,” Cichanoŭskaja stressed.