'Let's Hope for a Good Outcome.' Tsikhanouskaya's Advisor Spoke About Contacts with the US Regarding Political Prisoners
Belarusian democratic forces continue to contact US Special Representative John Koehl regarding the release of political prisoners in Belarus. While negotiations are ongoing, not all of them are easy, but Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's diplomatic advisor Dzianis Kuchynski hopes for good results. He spoke about this on Belsat TV.
Dzianis Kuchynski. Photo: Nasha Niva
"Regarding Koehl and the US. This work continues, we are in constant contact. As in previous instances, each release requires a lot of work, extensive negotiations, many of which require silence. And these are not the easiest negotiations either," emphasized Dzianis Kuchynski.
Now is precisely the negotiation stage, he added:
"We will hope for a good outcome, but normalization of relations with the regime cannot happen unless there is normalization of relations not only with neighbors but also with Belarusian society, for repressions to stop, for no new people to be imprisoned, and for democratic processes to also begin."
As for Belarus's neighbors in the European Union, their position regarding Belarus remains consistent and principled.
"There is no breakthrough in relations between the regime and Lithuania, Poland, or Latvia. Yes, there are certain factors. For example, regarding the migration crisis, migrant numbers are significantly lower. But balloons were still flying anyway, even a few weeks ago. So the ball is in Lukashenka's court."
Both Europe and the neighbors are looking at comprehensive actions and what the next step will be, in the long term," continues Dzianis Kuchynski.
He notes that currently, the Minsk authorities are preoccupied with Ukraine and are unlikely to have the resources to "play a multi-vector game" with Europe.
"There were 240 of us in the group. Seven were captured. The rest are Cargo 200 (killed)." Andrei from Vitebsk, the 'can opener man', became one of the seven lucky ones 1818
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