Credit: Wikipedia /  Belarus Opposition challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya 

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Belarusian activist Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said Tuesday “Belarus has woken up” and “the peaceful revolution is taking place.”   Tikhanovskaya, who is best known as Belarus’ main opposition leader, fled Minsk and is in exile in Lithuania after she asserted that the re-election of incumbent President Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko  was fraudulent.   Longtime President Lukashenko won 80.23% of the vote, with rival challenger  Tikhanovskaya receiving 9.9%.  Tikhanovskaya spoke Tuesday via video link from Vilnius calling on MEPs at an extraordinary meeting of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs to continue their support for what she called Belarus’ “democratic revolution.”  Tsikhanouskaya told the MEPs that  Belarusians would “not relent” and declared:

“We are not the opposition anymore. We are the majority now.”

-Belarus Opposition challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya 

“Peaceful protesters are being illegally detained imprisoned and beaten.  The authorities use the tactics of intimidation fear and physical threat. At least 6 people were killed. Dozens are missing. This is taking place in the middle of Europe. “

The Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) held a debate on the situation in Belarus with Tsikhanouskaya.

 EU Stands In Solidarity With People Of BELARUS Demanding Peaceful Transition of Power

European Parliament Constituent meeting of the Delegation for relations with Belarus 

“We heard an inspiring message of Ms Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the united opposition candidate, who is widely regarded as the candidate who got the majority of votes in the presidential election. We expressed our admiration for her courage and her call for peaceful democratic change that the people of Belarus are demanding.  The European Union needs to do all in its power to strengthen the cause of freedom and democracy in Belarus. This includes effective sanctions against perpetrators of violations of human rights and electoral fraud, and pressure to release all political prisoners and those arbitrarily detained. The violence against the people must end!”

-EU Foreign Affairs Committee chair David McAllister