Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said she sees neither benefit nor harm if Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya relocates from Lithuania to Poland, calling the decision a personal matter.
“This is her personal choice to decide what she wants,” Ruginienė said in an interview published Friday by Delfi.lt.
“I would see neither added value nor loss. Our contact with the Belarusian opposition is very close, and not only with Sviatlana. The opposition is not just Sviatlana – it consists of many more people,” she said, adding that she welcomed the recent release of other opposition figures who had also taken part in presidential elections.
Ruginienė said her office has not received any official notification from Tsikhanouskaya’s team regarding a planned move from Lithuania.
“What we have done from the government’s side is ensure her full protection and repeatedly demonstrate – and continue to demonstrate – support for democratic processes,” the prime minister said. “When it comes to Russia and Belarus, we have always supported free speech and democratic processes, and we will continue to do so.”
As previously reported, Tsikhanouskaya informed Lithuanian lawmakers last week of her decision to move to Warsaw. One member of the Lithuanian parliament told BNS that several members of Tsikhanouskaya’s team are likely to remain working in Vilnius.
Her aide, Dzianis Kuchynski, told BNS that the office in Vilnius will continue operating regardless of where Tsikhanouskaya herself is based.
Lithuania reduced security for the opposition leader at the end of 2025, transferring responsibility from the Dignitary Protection Service to the police. Authorities argued that the threat level facing Tsikhanouskaya had declined, though critics said the move diminished her status.
Tsikhanouskaya ran against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in the 2020 election, which the opposition says she won. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, subsequently crushed mass protests, detaining thousands of people and forcing many others into exile.
Kuchynski also told journalists that Tsikhanouskaya’s husband, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, who was released from prison last year, is currently in the United States for security reasons.
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