Roberta Metsola meets Sviatlana Tsihanouskaya in Vilnius: ‘All political prisoners must be released’

During her visit to Lithuania on 12 January, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola met with Sviatlana Tsihanouskaya, leader of the democratic forces of Belarus. 

The meeting was timed to coincide with the celebration in Lithuania of the Day of the Defenders of Freedom, which marks the events of 13 January 1991, when Soviet troops stormed the Lithuanian Parliament, the TV Tower, and the Lithuanian Radio and Television building, killing 11 peaceful citizens and injuring hundreds of others.

“On Freedom Defenders’ Day in Lithuania, with one of the world’s strongest defenders of freedom and democracy Sviatlana Tsihanouskaya,” Roberta Metsola wrote on X. “Reiterated Europe’s support for the democratic opposition and a free Belarus. All political prisoners must be released and reunited with their families.”

Sviatlana Tsihanouskaya ran in the 2020 presidential election in Belarus and was soon expelled from Belarus as one of Alexander Lukashenko’s most popular opponents. Since then, the politician and her office have been based in Vilnius, Lithuania.

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Roberta Metsola on X

Press release