Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with the Speaker and MPs of the Seimas of Lithuania. What was discussed?
On September 3, in Vilnius, the Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania, Juozas Olekas, officially received Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. The meeting was also attended by deputies from the "For Democratic Belarus" group and representatives of most political parties. From the Belarusian side – Tsikhanouskaya's advisors Franak Viačorka, Dzianis Kuchynski, and Anatol Liabedzka, according to Tsikhanouskaya's press service.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya expressed deep gratitude to the Lithuanian parliament for its consistent and principled stance and support for the Belarusian people, as well as for decisions that did not equate Belarusians with Russians. Speaker Olekas' speech at the plenary session and his congratulation to Belarusians on August 25 – the Day of the Adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Belarus – were particularly noted.
During the meeting, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called for making Belarus one of the priorities of the European agenda during Lithuania's presidency.
The parties discussed preparations for the release of political prisoners. Tsikhanouskaya thanked Lithuania for its support in logistics and legalization matters.
Tsikhanouskaya raised the issue of the possibility of exchanging Belarusian driving licenses without additional exams for those with a humanitarian residence permit (following the example of Poland) and the introduction of exams in Belarusian; returning Belarus to the list of countries whose citizens can receive state scholarships from Lithuania for master's studies, and restoring this opportunity for the 2027 intake.
The parties discussed the organization of Lithuanian language courses for Belarusians, social issues, including support for children with disabilities.
The future of the European Humanities University and the importance of maintaining Belarusians' access to education were also discussed at the meeting.
"Lithuania remains one of the most reliable political friends of democratic Belarus. Our main goal is to transform this support into even stronger and more concrete actions for Belarusians," Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya summarized.
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