Belarusian opposition leader temporarily closes Vilnius office after security downgrade

The Vilnius office of exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has been forced to temporarily suspend its operations due to a last-minute decision by the Lithuanian authorities to lower the level of her security, Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported on Wednesday.

“On 1 October, we were informed about the planned changes,” Tsikhanouskaya adviser Dzianis Kuchynski told LRT, adding that as the notice period had been so short, “we didn’t have time to adapt the office’s operations to these changes. As a result, we have had to temporarily suspend its activities.”

Tsikhanouskaya, who was forced out of Belarus in August 2020, is recognised by many to have beaten dictator Alexander Lukashenko in that year’s presidential election. Following her exile, she established the United Transitional Cabinet in Vilnius and has operated from the Lithuanian capital ever since.

Kuchynski noted that Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry still considered Tsikhanouskaya the de facto elected leader of Belarus, while pointing out that members of the Belarusian opposition in exile faced an ongoing campaign of intimidation from Minsk.

“Lukashenko’s regime continues its campaign of intimidation and repression even outside Belarus by attacking premises belonging to Belarusians, including shops, cultural centres and churches in Vilnius, launching disinformation campaigns inspired by the KGB, engaging in constant cyberattacks and phone hacking, and by making regular death threats against members of the democratic movement,” Kuchynski said.

The decision by the Lithuanian authorities to downgrade Tsikhanouskaya’s protection, transferring responsibility for her safety from the intelligence services to the police, was publicly announced on Tuesday. 

Former Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis called the move “a betrayal,” saying it “effectively forces Tsikhanouskaya’s family and her office to leave Lithuania”.

This latest development comes three months after the release of Tsikhanouskaya’s husband, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, from a Belarusian prison, after five years in detention following his 2020 arrest as he attempted to challenge Lukashenko in that year’s presidential election.