Warsaw, Feb 25, (dpa/GNA) – Exiled Belarusian opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said on Wednesday that she had shifted her base from Lithuania to Poland on security grounds.
“The reason for the move from Lithuania was security concerns,” she told Poland’s PAP news agency, adding that some of her staff had joined her in moving to Warsaw where they would continue their work.
Tsikhanouskaya said the movement’s office in Vilnius would continue to operate.
At the end of last year, the Lithuanian government downgraded personal protection for Tsikhanouskaya, with Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene terming the move an “adaptation to the current threat level.”
Whereas Tsikhanouskaya had previously been guarded round the clock by special forces, police took over responsibility for her security.
Tsikhanouskaya said she personally and her office remained the target of the Belarusian intelligence services, who tried to insert their own agents.
“The Polish government is doing everything to ensure my security,” she said.
Tsikhanouskaya stood against Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential elections, in which many believe she emerged victorious. Mass protests erupted when Lukashenko declared that he had won with around 80% of the vote. The protests were savagely put down by the Minsk government.
Tsikhanouskaya and her children fled to Lithuania, where she formed a kind of government-in-exile. Poland and Lithuania are home to many Belarusians who are subject to political persecution at home.
GNA