June 22, Pozirk. Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja has expressed hope for stronger relations between the Belarusian pro-democratic movement and Armenia in a video interview with Armenian portal 1in.am.
The Belarusian opposition leader would like Yerevan to stop cooperating with officials in Minsk.
She is seeking partnership with the Armenian National Assembly, which could form a group for cooperation with the Belarusian pro-democracy forces just like European parliaments.
It is also necessary to foster ties “between Belarusian and Armenian civil society organizations” as “many Belarusians have left for Armenia,” which does not require a visa, Cichanoŭskaja said.
“I hope that Armenia will allow them to stay safely on its territory,” she added. “There are things to share and it is important to contemplate the future of our peoples together . . . We are ready to develop cooperation at the expert level, between think tanks, and between civil society organizations.”
“I will be happy to visit Armenia if the Armenian leadership is ready,” Cichanoŭskaja said. “I support the Armenian people in its quest for a European future and freedom. I think that meetings and possible visits will only strengthen our relations.”
Armenia was under an illusion that it could maintain relations with Alaksandar Łukašenka and apply a pragmatic approach to Belarus, she continued, but now it is clear that he “cannot be a partner and is certainly not an ally of Armenia.”
The Belarusian and Armenian peoples “deserve a European, democratic future,” Cichanoŭskaja said.
“Our peoples have paid and continue to pay a great price for their freedom . . . but now is probably not the time to measure who is more hurt or more challenged. It is time to simply unite where possible and to learn more about each other,” she said. “Everything possible should be done to become calm friends as nations and politically.”
To make it happen, the countries should be “free from the Kremlin yoke,” she concluded.
At a meeting in Vilnius earlier this week, Cichanoŭskaja discussed the political situation in Belarus with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
It was the second meeting between Cichanoŭskaja and Mirzoyan. Seeing him and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Granada in October, the opposition leader voiced her support for the Armenians in connection with an Azerbaijani offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh.
Speaking in Parliament on June 2, Pashinyan announced Armenia’s possible exit from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russian-led military bloc.
