Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said her decision to relocate to Warsaw is related to security concerns, citing continued pressure from the Belarusian government.
“For all these years, both I and my office have been targets of the Belarusian regime,” she said in a statement.
Tsikhanouskaya said that after security measures were changed in Vilnius, part of her team moved its operations to the Polish capital. She began working in Warsaw earlier this month. She informed Lithuanian lawmakers about the decision to relocate in January.
Lithuania reduced the opposition leader’s security protection at the end of 2025, arguing that the threats against her had diminished. Critics, however, said the move downgraded her status.
Tsikhanouskaya ran against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election. The opposition maintains that she was the true winner of the vote.
She expressed gratitude to Lithuania for its support and to Poland for welcoming “hundreds of thousands of Belarusians who had to flee repression”. She also thanked both countries for recognising that a free and democratic Belarus is important for strong relations among neighbouring states.
“I felt safe in Lithuania, and I feel safe here,” she said.
According to Tsikhanouskaya, the move to Warsaw will allow her office to cooperate more closely with Poland, which hosts a large Belarusian diaspora.
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