On 9 May 2025, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andžejs Viļumsons, met with the leader of the Belarusian democratic forces, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who has arrived in Riga for a visit on Europe Day.
During the meeting, the State Secretary reaffirmed Latvia’s support for the Belarusian democratic forces by condemning repressions against the Belarusian people perpetrated by the country’s authoritarian regime, and its involvement in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya welcomed the financial contribution provided by Latvia to the International Humanitarian Fund for the rehabilitation of political prisoners, as well as to the International Accountability Platform for Belarus (IAPB), which methodically documents and preserves evidence of human rights violations in Belarus.
Symbolically, on Europe Day, the Latvian Institute of International Affairs (LIIA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia co-hosted a discussion, The Role of Belarus in the Political and Security Architecture of Europe: Perspective from the Baltic Region.
In his opening address for the event, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Artjoms Uršuļskis, highlighted the threats posed by the authoritarian regime of Belarus to Europe’s security, and the role of the Belarusian democratic forces in the fight for a free and democratic Belarus in the family of European nations. Sviatlana Tskihanouskaya, in her speech to participants and political experts from Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia, thanked Latvia for supporting the democratic forces of Belarus and expressed the need for a continued unwavering support to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s war of aggression. She underlined that the defence of Ukraine’s sovereign territories is a vital aspect of security of the region as a whole – also in Belarus’ struggle for a democratic future.
As part of her visit to Riga, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya participated in a conference on parliamentary democracy held by the Baltic Assembly, met with the Speaker of the Saeima (the Latvian Parliament), Daiga Mieriņa, and unveiled an exhibition about political prisoners in Belarus.
