Tikhanovskaya Urges E.U. To Step Up Pressure On Lukashenko

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has urged the European Union to increase pressure on President Alexander Lukashenko, reports Agence France-Presse.

Following a meeting with E.U. foreign ministers on Monday, she told the wire service that Belarus was under “de facto” Russian military occupation.

Lukashenko “does not control the presence of Russian troops” or stationed equipment in Belarus, adding that he must comply with Russian demands in order to remain in power.

Tikhanovskaya insisted that Belarusian soldiers would not willingly join Russia in its unprovoked war in Ukraine and that Lukashenko knows this.

She urged the European bloc to close loopholes in sanctions against the Lukashenko regime and maintain political pressure on Belarus as the number of political prisoners rises.

Tikhanovskaya fled Belarus in 2020 after Lukashenko launched a brutal crackdown on the opposition following elections widely seen as stolen by the regime.