Lithuania has urged the international community to strengthen sanctions against the Belarusian regime until all political prisoners are released and real democratic reforms begin, as well as until the regime stops supporting the Kremlin’s aggression against Ukraine and its people.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys called for increased sanctions against Belarus after meeting with the leader of the Belarusian Democratic Forces, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her husband Sergei Tikhanovsky, who was released at the end of June. According to Budrys, while the regime in power in a neighbouring country, it was necessary to ensure the safety of Belarusian democratic activists and their families, who had found refuge in Lithuania.
According to Belarusian human rights activists, more than 1,170 political prisoners are still being illegally detained in Belarusian prisons. Their actual number may be several times higher.
