Svetlana Tikhanovskaya gave an interview to the Czech Voxpot, where she shared her thoughts about the future, the power of popular resistance and the continuation of the struggle.
The following questions were raised:
— The difference between Belarusians and Russians: "After 2020, and especially after 2022, Belarusians realized a huge difference between Russians and us. Today, people are trying to strengthen our national identity even within the country. Of course, Putin can look at Belarus as a Russian region, Lukashenka can sell his country. But the Belarusian people will never agree to this."
- Street protests: "Now we don't see people on the streets, but this does not mean that Lukashenka forced people to forget and forgive everything. He still acts as if hundreds of thousands of people are still standing in front of his palace. Lukashenko knows that as soon as the repressions stop, people will go out into the streets again. Now our task is to strengthen the democratic forces in Belarus, to strengthen the people, to strengthen relations between people and to weaken Lukashenka's regime. And when the moment comes, and we feel that a window of opportunity has opened, people will go out into the streets again."
- People inside the country: "The regime wants to scare people so much that they stop trusting each other. And this is our big problem. But, despite the repression, people try to help each other, communicate with each other. We see it every moment when people send us photos with our flag, photos in which they listen to Belarusian national music. These are small acts of resistance, but they are there, and we are very grateful for that.”
- Connection with the regime: "Lukashenka knows that his regime is very weak today. But, of course, they do not address us directly. They don't call me or anyone else they want to talk to. They broadcast everything through their vassals, for example, to the pro-government media. The regime is also trying to communicate with our democratic partners, who do not recognize Lukashenka's legitimacy and do not want to talk to him directly."
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