Sannikov Scoffed at Tsikhanouskaya's Office Being Represented by an Employee Named Pedersen at an International Summit
Pedersen diplomatically offered Sannikov a conversation at their next meeting, but the 2010 election candidate resolutely rejected the idea: "You introduced yourself as a 'representative of democratic' Belarus, not as a representative of some office. So stop lying."
Andrei Sannikov
Andrei Sannikov, one of the leaders of Charter'97, after returning from the Copenhagen Summit for Democracy, organized by former NATO Secretary General and founder of The Alliance of Democracies Foundation Anders Fogh Rasmussen, published an ironic post about Belarus being represented at the event by a person named Pedersen.
"Returned from the Copenhagen Summit for Democracy... and was surprised to learn that there, apparently, was a whole representative of democratic Belarus named Pedersen. I didn't see or hear him there, but I'm happy that a person with the surname Pedersen has the feeling that he represents Belarus," Sannikov wrote, adding: "Congratulations to everyone involved with Pedersen!" He attached a photo to the post, showing him presenting Rasmussen with his book "Belarus in NATO."
Karim Pedersen is the Head of International Communications for Tsikhanouskaya's Office. He has been working in the Office since 2021. He is the only foreigner on the team.
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Karim Pedersen. Photo: Jette Juel Schrum
Karim Pedersen himself responded in the comments to the post. He explained that he was representing Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Office at the summit, as she could not attend personally, diplomatically expressed regret that he and Sannikov did not get a chance to speak, and invited him to meet next time.
However, Sannikov did not consider the explanation sufficient. "You introduced yourself as a 'representative of democratic' Belarus, not as a representative of some office. So stop lying before you offer a conversation," the politician replied.
It seemed that Pedersen did not understand what Sannikov wanted from him, so he apologized for any possible misunderstanding and emphasized that he had dedicated the last five years of his life to supporting Belarusians:
"I apologize if my message left a wrong impression — I can assure you that on my part, it was neither intentional nor disrespectful in any sense. Quite the opposite: for the last five years of my life, I have dedicated myself to supporting Belarusians in every possible way."
But Sannikov lectured the Dane once again: "Again, you 'support' some office, not Belarusians. Try to express yourself correctly."
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