Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was the main challenger of incumbent President Aleksander Lukashenko 12 days ago, but fled to Lithuania after the presidential elections. According to her and the rest of the opposition, the result was falsified: Lukashenko got 80 percent of the vote, Tikhanovskaya barely 10. After the election, she felt the pressure from the security forces on her increase.
In recent weeks she has regularly sent video messages out into the world from Lithuania, and today she also gave a first press conference. In it, she stated that she wants to return to her country, but only when she feels safe again.
“Everyone in my country is scared, but our mission is to get over those fears and move on,” she said. The Belarusian people want new elections that are free and fair, she added. “I hope that the leaders of Belarus will listen to the people.”
In a new video message earlier in the day, she called on the Belarusians to strike even more and thus put further pressure on the Lukashenko regime.
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