BNR Rada rejects KGB’s extremist label

June 7, BPN. The Rada of the Belarusian National Republic, Belarus’ oldest government in exile, has hit back at the Belarusian Committee of State Security (KGB), which labeled it an extremist group last week.

The Rada called the KGB “a punitive body” that terrorizes the Belarusian people and said it would continue to represent their sovereign rights.

The organization also declared that Alaksandr Łukašenka had seized power in the 1995-96 coup, and that his government is illegitimate and has no right to speak for Belarus.

The Rada was formed in 1917 shortly before Belarus briefly declared independence from Russia amid World War I. It is now based in Canada and led by Ivonka Surviła.