New large-scale demonstrations can certainly be expected in Belarus, although the form of protests has recently changed due to the regime’s repression, opposition leader Sviatlan Cihanouska told reporters in the Lithuanian capital on Thursday.
“People have changed the forms of protest because of the repression, but we will certainly see large-scale demonstrations in Belarus, as we saw last August and September, because people want new elections, a new country. It is difficult, but people will not give up,” she said.
Cihanouska, together with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielis Landsbergs, took part in a ceremony at the Vilnius Race Cemetery, where the participants of the 1863-1864 uprising against the rule of Tsarist Russia and one of its leaders, Konstantin Kalinovsky, were commemorated on Belarusian Freedom Day.
The flowers were also laid on that day at the grave where a Belarusian politician, one of the prime ministers of the People’s Republic of Belarus, proclaimed in March 1918 and only for a short time, Anton Luckevich and his brother Ivan, who had been proclaimed for only a short time, rested.
Alexander Lukashenko’s regime does not allow the celebration of Freedom Day on March 25, commemorating the declaration of independence of the People’s Republic of Belarus. Independence Day in Belarus is celebrated on July 3, because on this day in 1944, Nazi German troops left Minsk and Soviet troops entered the city.
As Cihanouska emphasized, March 25 is a very important day for Belarusians, especially this year.
“This year and this day are especially important to us, because we are currently on a difficult path in the fight for democracy, for a new Belarus,” the opposition leader said.
“At the moment we are standing here, countless people are being detained on the streets of Belarusian cities, but people will not give up. Yesterday in Minsk we could see many fireworks in red and white. The regime does not understand that people are ready to fight for their independence,” she added.
Cihanouska welcomed the decision of Lithuania and the other Baltic states to impose an entry ban on another 118 Belarusian citizens who had taken part in the violent repression of peaceful protests following the unrecognized presidential elections in Belarus on 9 August 2020.
In total, the Baltic States have already included more than 270 representatives of the Belarusian government and forces in their national sanctions lists.
“This is a very strong message to the regime that Lithuania is with us and will be with us until victory,” said the opposition leader.
According to the Lithuanian Foreign Minister, it is expected that the fourth package of sanctions of the European Union will not be extended to the extent that the Baltic States have done.
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