Cichanoŭskaja willing to visit Armenia if its leaders are ready

June 22, Pozirk. Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja has expressed hope for stronger relations between the Belarusian pro-democratic movement and Armenia in a video interview with Armenian portal 1in.am.
The Belarusian opposition leader would like Yerevan to stop cooperating with officials in Minsk.
She is seeking partnership with the Armenian National Assembly, which could form a group for cooperation with the Belarusian pro-democracy forces just like European parliaments.
It is also necessary to foster ties “between Belarusian and Armenian civil society organizations” as “many Belarusians have left for Armenia,” which does not require a visa, Cichanoŭskaja said.
“I hope that Armenia will allow them to stay safely on its territory,” she added. “There are things to share and it is important to contemplate the future of our peoples together . . . We are ready to develop cooperation at the expert level, between think tanks, and between civil society organizations.”
“I will be happy to visit Armenia if the Armenian leadership is ready,” Cichanoŭskaja said. “I support the Armenian people in its quest for a European future and freedom. I think that meetings and possible visits will only strengthen our relations.”
Armenia was under an illusion that it could maintain relations with Alaksandar Łukašenka and apply a pragmatic approach to Belarus, she continued, but now it is clear that he “cannot be a partner and is certainly not an ally of Armenia.”
The Belarusian and Armenian peoples “deserve a European, democratic future,” Cichanoŭskaja said.
“Our peoples have paid and continue to pay a great price for their freedom . . . but now is probably not the time to measure who is more hurt or more challenged. It is time to simply unite where possible and to learn more about each other,” she said. “Everything possible should be done to become calm friends as nations and politically.”
To make it happen, the countries should be “free from the Kremlin yoke,” she concluded.
At a meeting in Vilnius earlier this week, Cichanoŭskaja discussed the political situation in Belarus with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
It was the second meeting between Cichanoŭskaja and Mirzoyan. Seeing him and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Granada in October, the opposition leader voiced her support for the Armenians in connection with an Azerbaijani offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh.
Speaking in Parliament on June 2, Pashinyan announced Armenia’s possible exit from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russian-led military bloc.
Minsk issues note after Cichanoŭskaja's meeting with Armenia's top diplomat
- PoliticsOfficial: 2,354 propaganda workers employed in MinskThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityRussia-led military bloc plans two exercises in Belarus this yearThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- SocietyEnvironment ministry announces aerial rabies vaccination of wild animalsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyCustoms officers seize over 2 kg of psychotropic drugs from bus at Brest checkpointThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyCentral bank’s net foreign currency assets down 7.7 percent in MarchThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBiełstat: industrial inventories up nearly 10 percent in Q1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsRyžankoŭ to attend meeting of CIS foreign ministers in MoscowThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyIndustrial production down 3.4 percent in January-MarchThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityBelarus’ RCB defense unit holding decontamination drillThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyLithuanian education ministry denounces Belarus' extremist designation for Vilnius universityThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- SocietyPolish tax officers seize Belarusian cigarettes in Śląskie VoivodeshipThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyBelarus restricts access to forests over fire fearsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Security
- Politics, SecurityIntelligence chief of Belarus, Russia meet in KaliningradThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsOpposition activist arrested in Belarus after being denied asylum by GermanyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, Security
- Politics, SecurityFormer Moldovan deputy intelligence chief sentenced to 18 months in prison for allegedly spying for BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyŁukašenka grants Belarusian citizenship to 230 foreignersThe material is available only to POZIRK+



