COPENHAGEN, Oct 22 — Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya today vowed to stand firm in her bid to oust President Alexander Lukashenko, her fight buoyed by her movement being awarded a top human rights prize.
“I think the will of the Belarussian people can’t be changed. And even if we don’t succeed or if we’re not getting the effect we’re waiting for, people will be looking for another kind of struggle, another kind of protest.
“But we will not stop,” Tikhanovskaya told AFP in an interview.
“I know a lot of people are afraid to lose their jobs. A lot of people are not ready,” she conceded.
“But we hope that the Belarusian people will talk with one voice this weekend and after this.”
Tikhanovskaya was speaking on a visit to Copenhagen from exile in Lithuania when she learned the European Parliament had bestowed the Sakharov Prize for human rights on her movement.
“This is not my personal award, it is an award for the Belarusian people,” Tikhanovskaya told a news conference, adding she was “really glad” to hear of the international recognition.
The opposition has given Lukashenko, who held off Tikhanovskaya’s challenge to win a contested August election, until Sunday to resign or face a general strike and mass demonstrations.
In her AFP interview Tikhanovskaya insisted the opposition are open to a dialogue.
“From the beginning I’ve always said that we are open to dialogue with any country and it’s important for us to have dialogue with Russia, we were always clear about this position,” she said.
Yet, “as they took the side of the regime, they support a dictatorship so I see they don’t have the intention to talk to us.” — AFP
