Cichanoŭskaja, Estonian diplomat discuss holding Belarusian regime accountable

April 8, BPN. Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja and Marko Koplimaa, Estonia’s envoy for the Belarusian democratic forces, met to discuss holding the Belarusian regime accountable for crimes against humanity through the instruments of the International Criminal Court (ICC), an adviser to Cichanoŭskaja told BPN.

According to Franak Viačorka, Cichanoŭskaja said that “more than 18,000 pieces of evidence have already been collected, which is enough to launch a preliminary investigation against Łukašenka’s regime.”

They also discussed “a number of specific things”: supporting the Mission for Democratic Belarus in Tallinn, holding events to inform Estonians about Belarus, simplifying immigration requirements for Belarusians, granting them work permits and extending their visas and residence permits.

Cichanoŭskaja expressed her gratitude for Estonian universities’ decision to resume admissions for Belarusian students.

The parties discussed holding a Baltic-Belarusian conference in Tallinn. “This forum or conference aims to discuss cooperation between the Baltic countries and Belarus, cultural, informational, political and military, so that Belarus is perceived as a partner and the part of the vast Baltic region it is,” said Viačorka.

According to the adviser, the parties also discussed the expansion of the Friends of Belarus parliamentary group in Estonia. “The group would increase thanks to changes in the parliament following the recent election,” Viačorka explained.

“They discussed Estonia’s support for a campaign to keep Belarus out of the UN Security Council. Cichanoŭskaja also raised the issue of expanding the individual sanctions list. Estonia has already put officials, enforcers, and regime collaborators on its own national list. The parties discussed how to stretch that individual list into other EU countries to prevent the regime’s officials from getting Schengen visas,” the adviser said.

Koplimaa thanked Cichanoŭskaja and her team for the substantive discussion of “how we can cooperate and support Belarus’ democratic forces, especially on political prisoners and holding the regime accountable for its crimes.”

Koplimaa began his work in Vilnius, where Cichanoŭskaja’s office is based, in February. His country does not recognize Alaksandr Łukašenka as Belarus’ lawfully elected president and shares the EU’s sanctions policy against Minsk.