Cichanoŭskaja willing to visit Armenia if its leaders are ready

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.
Minsk issues note after Cichanoŭskaja's meeting with Armenia's top diplomat
- Security, SocietyChernobyl containment at risk from missile, drone strikes – plant executiveThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsIrregular Belarus-EU border crossings exceed 400 in three weeksThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: jailed dissidents face harassment in Homiel regionThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityŁukašenka promotes KGB Colonel Byčak to major generalThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, Politics, SecurityInvestigative journalists: Hrodna Azot sells sanctioned goods in EU using front companiesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, Politics, SocietyBelarusian government acknowledges migration as a challengeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityPoland installs drone systems as part of upgrade of border with BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsRights groups identify 10 more political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Economy, Politics, SecurityBelarus releases most stranded Lithuanian trucksThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyGovernment to lend farms cash for equipment purchasesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityŁukašenka tells top security chiefs to suppress any revolutionary attemptsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Politics, SocietyForeigner jailed for three months in Pinsk for facilitating illegal migrationThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Economy, SocietyBelarus’ tourism industry struggles deter serious investment – researcherThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- SocietyRussia blocks red caviar shipment to BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals in Belarus continue with new extremism charges and designationsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, PoliticsLithuania arrests Belarusian suspected of loan fraud, illegal high-tech exportsThe material is available only to POZIRK+

