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On 12 March 2026 the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba Braže, met with the leader of the Belarusian democratic forces and head of the United Transitional Cabinet, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and discussed the situation in Belarus, including the regime’s repression of civil society and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
Both officials were unanimous: the policy of Belarusian authoritarian regime has not changed – repressions are intensifying, new political prisoners are being arrested, and hybrid attacks on the EU's external borders continue, including the instrumentalisation of migrants. The regime continues to support Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Baiba Braže emphasised that in this situation, pressure on Belarusian regime must be increased, including through strengthened and aligned EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus. Circumvention of sanctions via Belarus must be prevented. The Minister underlined Latvia's unwavering demand on Belarus to release all political prisoners and end their forced deportations, as well as to immediately ensure the safe return of unlawfully deported Ukrainian children to Ukraine.
At the same time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed Latvia’s continued support for the Belarusian opposition's efforts to achieve a free and democratic Belarus. Latvia provides assistance for the rehabilitation of released Belarusian political prisoners and supports the International Accountability Platform for collecting evidence of Lukashenko's human rights violations.
Baiba Braže and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya jointly opened the discussion on Belarus organized by the Latvian Foreign Experts Council, which was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During her visit, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya also met with the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, members of the Saeima group in support of democratic Belarus, and the Belarusian democratic diaspora in Latvia, as well as delivered a lecture to students at Rīga Stradiņš University.
Background information
On 12 March, the UN Group of Independent Experts presented a report on the situation of human rights in Belarus to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The report concludes that the system of impunity in Belarus is strengthening. Certain violations of human rights, such as persecution and imprisonment, amount to crimes against humanity. The joint statement of the Baltic and Nordic countries was delivered by the Norwegian Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Tormod C. Endresen.