Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya Saturday urged US President Donald Trump to step up efforts to support democracy in her country, arguing that a free Belarus was in Washington’s interests.
In an interview with AFP in Amsterdam, Tikhanovskaya also poured cold water on planned talks between Trump and Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian president was not serious about negotiations over Ukraine.
Last month, Belarus released 52 political prisoners in a US-brokered deal as strongman Alexander Lukashenko seeks closer ties with Trump.
“Of course we are so grateful to President Trump and his personal involvement in this humanitarian track of releasing political prisoners,” said Tikhanovskaya.
However, she stressed that Washington was not “legitimising” the Lukashenko regime or normalising ties.
“President Trump has a more transactional approach. He needs success stories. He wants to bring peace to many regions. And of course we welcome these efforts,” she told AFP.
She warned that Lukashenko had a “constant source” of political prisoners, saying that for every 50 people freed, 150 more were detained.
According to Tikhanovskaya, Trump should look at the bigger picture, that without a free Belarus, there could be no peace in the region.
“Our task is to explain that it’s not only about (political) hostages. It’s about the whole future of our country. And a democratic Belarus is in the interest of the US as well,” she added.
Tikhanovskaya was forced into exile to Lithuania in 2020 after challenging Lukashenko’s nearly three decades in power in a presidential election.
Since her husband Sergei was imprisoned, Tikhanovskaya has emerged as the figurehead of the opposition to Lukashenko.
She said her team was in “constant communication” with the US administration. “They are not doing these deals behind our backs,” she said.
– ‘Dictators don’t need peace’ –
The 43-year-old, speaking in the Netherlands on the sidelines of a meeting of European Socialists, noted the International Criminal Court, based in the Hague, was investigating both Lukashenko and Putin.
“They committed enough crimes to have investigations against them, of course,” she said.
“Believe me, for Belarusians and for Ukrainians, it’s very important that justice is achieved. We cannot get justice in Belarus, you know, there is lawlessness in our country,” she said.
“We have to see that democratic institutions are bold and decisive enough to bring perpetrators to accountability. Because (otherwise) people might lose belief in democratic institutions,” she added.
Trump and Putin are expected to meet in Budapest soon for Ukraine talks but Tikhanovskaya said she was not hopeful of a breakthrough.
While she said she appreciated Trump’s efforts, “as neighbours of Russia, we understand that dictators don’t need peace… So I don’t think that Putin is negotiable at all.”
Tikhanovskaya opened up about her relationship with her husband, who was behind bars for more than five years, arrested as he was preparing to run against Lukashenko.
When he was freed, the couple decided that she would forge ahead as opposition leader, she said.
“Of course, he discovered a new reality. He left me in 2020 as a housewife and now I’m a very important person,” she said with a smile.
“But he’s so grateful for my efforts, he’s so grateful for my work, so he’s not going to compete with me in the political arena,” she said.
“But he asked me, ‘please, you can be a leader, you know, publicly, in the political arena, but stay my wife at home’!”
