Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the Vilnius-based Belarusian opposition leader, has asked the Lithuanian authorities not to use Belarusians fleeing from the Lukashenko regime in politics.
Her comment follows the publication on Thursday of the annual threats assessment report, which states that incoming Belarusian citizens who still have links with Belarusian intelligence pose a threat to Lithuania’s national security interests.
“I want the Lithuanian government and special services not to use Belarusian grief and pain in the political life. We are waiting for solidarity, we are looking for solidarity, we are really paying a high price for our freedom, for our independence,” Tikhanovskaya told reporters in Vilnius on Friday.
“Of course, the Lithuanian services have to detect those who might work with the KGB. But I doubt there are many of them,” she added.
The Belarusian opposition leader also said that her team helps Lithuania’s intelligence to identify possible spies.
When first asked about the Lithuanian intelligence report, Tikhanovskaya talked about the propaganda of the Minsk and Kremlin regimes and the desire to pit Lithuanians and Belarusians against each other.
“They deliberately started this information attack on Lithuanian people. They want to show Belarusian people as those who are looking for a better life in Lithuania but believe me, most of us who are in Lithuania feel the repressions. People are looking for a safe refuge in your wonderful country,” she said.
She also urged people in Lithuania to be critical of what is said in public about Belarusians coming to Lithuania.
Speaking about the Belarusians who came to Lithuania to live but keep returning to Belarus, Tikhanovskaya stressed that people who come to Lithuania because of repressions cannot return to their homeland, while those who for work should be allowed to travel back to Belarus.
“People who fled because of repressions cannot return. But there are many people who came to work here, they have families in Belarus, they have children, and, of course, they must have the opportunity to travel,” she said.
The Belarusian diaspora in Lithuania consists of over 62,000 people and grows by about 15,500 annually.
In their report published on Thursday, the State Security Department and the Second Investigation Department under the Defence Ministry warned that Belarusian intelligence services exploit former employees of Belarusian state institutions who currently reside in Lithuania.
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