Tikhanovskaya Meets With Foreign Ministers Of Canada, Lithuania, Latvia And Estonia

On Friday, 16 October, former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya met Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada François-Philippe Champagne during his official visit to Vilnius, Lithuania, her Telegram channel reports.

During my meeting with Belarus opposition leader @Tsihanouskaya, I reiterated 🇨🇦’s support for the people of #Belarus.

Canada is committed to working with international partners to hold accountable those responsible for violence and for undermining democracy in Belarus. pic.twitter.com/k06BPf8cpT

— François-Philippe Champagne (FPC) 🇨🇦 (@FP_Champagne) October 16, 2020

It was an honour to finally meet today in #Vilnius with #Belarus opposition leader, @Tsihanouskaya. Your courage, leadership and dedication are an inspiration to so many people in Belarus and around the world. pic.twitter.com/RTbaKiIwMW

— François-Philippe Champagne (FPC) 🇨🇦 (@FP_Champagne) October 16, 2020

During the meeting, the opposition leader stressed that it was necessary to increase pressure on the Belarusian regime from all sides, including from the international community. In September, François-Philippe Champagne had expressed support to the people of Belarus in their struggle for democracy and promised financial assistance for the implementation of projects to support civil society.

Later Svetlana Tikhanovskaya met with Foreign Ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The People’s Ultimatum was on the agenda. The ministers supported the continuation of pressure on the regime and noted that sanctions on their part would increase. Svetlana thanked the representatives of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia for introducing their extended list of sanctions.

🇱🇹🇱🇻🇪🇪🇨🇦quartet meeting with #Belarus’ National Leader Sviatlana @Tsihanouskaya. We firmly stand by the people of Belarus. pic.twitter.com/R769t3rbfJ

— Linas Linkevicius (@LinkeviciusL) October 16, 2020

Excellent meeting with my counterparts from 🇱🇹,🇱🇻 & 🇪🇪. We discussed the situation in #Belarus, peace and security in Eastern Europe, human rights & multilateral engagement.

We also agreed to a Baltic-🇨🇦 annual meeting to discuss shared priorities.https://t.co/tCWIlft52n pic.twitter.com/e46R1TeHLb

— François-Philippe Champagne (FPC) 🇨🇦 (@FP_Champagne) October 16, 2020

The discussed the issue of postponing or boycotting the Ice Hockey Championship in Minsk to protest repressions against athletes. The ministers also announced that they expect an OSCE report on torture in Belarus, so that they can begin to work on the persecution of all those responsible for violence.

Svetlana thanked Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius for giving her a warm welcome, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics for his active participation in imposing sanctions against Lukashenko and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Urmas Reinsalu for convening a meeting of the UN Security Council.