"Is there confidence that the Cabinet will respond with dignity to Belarus entering the war with full force?"
Actions of the Cabinet in response to the possible entry of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus into the war against Ukraine:
"To give such a response is not only the task of the Cabinet. It is a joint effort of all citizens, including those outside Belarus. The work to coordinate this activity continues; it has never stopped. We are getting ready for this moment, we would not like to, but we have to get ready". (S. Tsikhanouskaya)
"The success of our plan to confront the regime and its troops is inversely proportional to the amount of information about it. Please understand that there are things that need to be kept quiet about, because otherwise it will be difficult to implement them". (V. Sakhashchyk)
"We are working together with Ukrainians, we have developed a special plan for this case, but I cannot disclose its details. We work with activists in Belarus who signed up for the Victory plan and prepare them for such a situation. The Victory plan was initially developed under different conditions. We are processing it now. It was not designed for a specific date, but for the conditions when the Belarusians would be ready to implement it. At the moment, launching the plan is suicide, so we are getting ready". (A. Azarov)
"We have to act in the international direction, it is also a question of how we will solve humanitarian problems. We understand that many Belarusians would like to leave Belarus under such conditions. Now we are working on the creation of an international coalition in support of independence of Belarus, and this work will be very useful if such events take place". (V. Kavaleuski)
Relations with Ukraine:
"We, Belarusians, will support Ukraine no matter how our political dialogue with it develops".
(S. Tsikhanouskaya)
"Since March, we have been constantly visiting Ukraine to work with representatives of the official authorities of Ukraine, with Belarusian volunteers, there were many political meetings, including in the Office of the President of Ukraine, with M. Podolyak. We can't say that we are satisfied with the level of relations with official Kiev, but we understand their logic, the conditions under which they face a deadly threat, and therefore support for Ukraine remains our priority". (V. Kovalevsky)
Relations with the Kalinovsky Regiment, the possibility of meeting with them S. Tikhonovska in Ukraine:
"I will be very happy to meet representatives of the Kalinovsky Regiment. I can't say that we have no contact with them. We are in constant contact with the Kalinovsky Regiment through our foreign affairs representative. So far, I can't meet with them in Ukraine because my status in Lithuania requires an official invitation from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, which they can't give me yet. If it is decided, I am ready to meet". (S. Tsikhanouskaya)
Helping political prisoners, negotiating with the regime for their release:
"We must understand that we don't have the keys to prisons. The regime is primarily responsible for the situation with political prisoners. We do not see any signals from its side about its readiness to negotiate. It is very important not to approach this case as a "trade. We shouldn't quarrel with each other because we all want the same thing". (V.Garbunova)
"Political prisoners have not appeared in Belarus for the first time. Taking into account the previous experience, there is a very high risk of being deceived by the regime in such negotiations. So is the regime's proposal with the interdepartmental commission on the return of those who have gone abroad - we understand that society has no reason to trust it. That is why the first signal from the regime should be a step to release a number of political prisoners on humanitarian grounds: the disabled, people with many children, etc.".
(V. Garbunova)
"We have started negotiations with partners from different countries who are ready to support our idea of creating an international fund to help political prisoners in Belarus. This should be a kind of "common purse" to strengthen the important work that is already being done by Belarusian foundations and public organizations, so that these foundations and organizations could support more people". (V. Garbunova)
Sanctions, closure of border crossings on the border with Belarus:
"We believe that it is necessary to increase pressure on Lukashenka's regime to release political prisoners. By closing border crossings with Belarus for the transport of goods, neighboring countries are exerting strong pressure on the regime. We urge the governments of democratic countries to support the decision of Poland to close the border crossings and increase pressure on the regime. But this is not about restricting passenger traffic. We have developed our vision on these issues and voiced it, but the decision is up to the countries that impose sanctions. We have voiced our proposals on the harmonization of sanctions policy in relation to the regime of Belarus and the Russian Federation. It is important for us that there is no way to bypass the sanctions, we are in constant contact with the relevant EU bodies in this regard". (P. Latushko)
"Information has appeared that a number of countries want to remove deliveries of Belarusian potash fertilizers from the sanctions list. But the position that these sanctions allegedly significantly increase the cost of food in the world has no basis whatsoever. Rather, the point is that there is lobbying on this issue by the potash groups that make billions on it, including Lukashenko". (P. Latushko)
International pressure on the regime:
"We start working to block Lukashenko's candidacy for the UN Security Council elections".
(V. Kavaleuski)
"The visit of the Hungarian foreign minister to Belarus is a departure from the policy of non-recognition of Lukashenko, which the EU has been pursuing since 2020. But it is a step of only one state, which has already marked itself on the map of Europe as quite favorable to authoritarian regimes, including those of Putin and Lukashenko. Therefore, we cannot say that this is a change of policy of the entire EU". (V. Kavaleuski)
"We are cooperating with Interpol: we want this organization to check all the requests that the regime sends to this organization, because we have collected a lot of evidence that the regime uses this organization to find political opponents. As for the case of the detention of a Belarusian with a humanitarian visa in Naples - we checked: this case has nothing to do with politics, it concerns a crime committed before 2020". (A. Azarov)
A new passport for Belarusians:
"The passport should be intended not only to confirm Belarusian citizenship, but also for international travel. We have consulted a lot with international partners to confirm the viability of the idea. There are preliminary agreements on this matter; I cannot reveal all the details. The project is supported by the European Commission, but success depends on whether we get support from individual states. A special group of heraldic designers worked on this document, the idea was supported by the sponsors". (V. Kavaleuski)
Culture:
"The work in the sphere of culture and education is not as visible and promoted, but no less important than the work of the power block. I am glad that the Pride and Dignity Prize has caused such a response — I am sure that our national consciousness will be strengthened by such public discussions. A whole line of new awards has been developed, and we will soon announce the first list of people who will receive the awards". (A. Koushyk)
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