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Cihanouska is currently on a visit to Washington. The administration of US President Joe Biden promises to increase pressure on Lukashenko.
The opposition leader said in talks with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Monday he presented a list of companies that would be subject to US sanctions.
“We understand that only Belarusians themselves can bring about democratic change in the country, but we look forward to America’s active and non-symbolic participation,” Cihanouska told a State Department correspondent roundtable.
“President Biden has said that there is a struggle between autocracy and democracy in the world. The front of this struggle is now in Belarus. The United States, as the champion of democracy, can help make things happen,” she said.
The opposition leader expressed hope that new sanctions would be imposed on state-controlled companies in the potash production, oil and timber industries, and steel production.
Entrepreneurs need to be made to “understand that Lukashenko is through” and “they can choose to join a new, transparent state,” Cihanouska said.
She also called for the elimination of holes in European Union (EU) sanctions that allow existing contracts with multinationals to continue.
“Most multinationals are, first and foremost, afraid of US sanctions, and even the threat of new sanctions – a new European sanction or a US sanction – can affect Lukashenko’s behavior.”
“He is getting more brutal and he is increasing the violence, but it only demonstrates his weakness,” Cihanouska said.
“It’s hard for people in democracies to explain that I’m not leading an opposition movement because we’re the majority.”
“Even if Cihanouska disappears one day, I don’t know for what reason this uprising, this movement will continue.”
Cihanouska was forced to flee to Lithuania after the August 9 presidential election, for which Lukashenko was declared the winner. However, the opposition accuses the regime of widespread falsification of election results and demands the resignation of Lukashenko. The opposition considers Cihanouska to be the real winner of the election.
After the elections in Belarus, protests began against the Lukashenko regime, which turned out to be unprecedented in the mass movement.
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