Poland in Cyprus

The Head of the Delegation of the European Commission and the Director of the Representation of the European Parliament in Nicosia also took part in the meeting.

Ambassador Marek Szczepanowski, introducing Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, presented her socio-political activity and the actions of the Alexander Lukashenko’s regime taken to persecute and eliminate the Belarusian democratic opposition and independent NGOs, including those bringing together national minorities. The conversation with the participants of the meeting focused on the rigged presidential elections and the brutal pacification of protests in 2020, as well as the life of Belarusian society under the oppressive regime. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya acquainted the participants with the activities of the United Transition Cabinet and the Coordinating Council, pointed out the need to account for all the crimes that have been committed by representatives of the Lukashenko’s regime, recalling the detention of political opponents in prisons, the pacification of protests, the hijacking of the Ryanair plane, treason, the forced transportation of Ukrainian children to Belarus and the regime's multi-level involvement in the war in Ukraine.

During her stay in Cyprus, upon the invitation of the US Ambassador, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya also met with the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulidis and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou. The main purpose of the talks with the representatives of the Cypriot authorities was to emphasize the importance of the international community's disapproval of the Lukashenko’s regime and to exert pressure to stop the persecution of Belarusian oppositionists. Tsikhanouskaya also met with representatives of the nearly 5,000-strong Belarusian diaspora in Cyprus.