Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko dismissed her as a "housewife," but when the Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya entered the race for the presidency in 2020, she became his greatest challenge.
Now that she is in exile, she continues her fight for a free, democratic Belarus. When Euronews met her in Berlin, her strong personality and her longing for her homeland immediately came to the fore.
“I miss everything. I miss my apartment, which had been confiscated. That was our family’s nest. I miss my husband,” Tsikhanouskaya said, after a deep sigh.
In 2020, Tsikhanouskaya's husband Syarhey Tsikhanouski decided to run for president of Belarus. However, he was soon arrested, and Sviatlana decided to step into his shoes and challenge Lukashenko.
After Lukashenko rigged the elections in his favour, Tsikhanouskaya said, she had to flee from Belarus, leaving everything behind.
"In 2020, at least half a million people fled Belarus because of repression," she remembered. "But people don’t just go into exile and become foreigners. They continue to be Belarusians. They continue to fight against Lukashenko's regime."
“My task is to keep people united and inspire people to not give up,” she said.
Since then, Tsikhanouskaya has been working on building strong relations with political leaders from Western countries. Forming a democracy in exile is not the easiest task. But she relentlessly fights for a free Belarus.
“Our task is to prepare our democratic movements and forces for the transition period in Belarus”, she explained.
“Belarusian democratic forces and people are united as never before because we have a common aim: to release our beloved ones, our friends, and political prisoners, but also to have free and
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