Democratic forces strengthen their influence in Washington and create the infrastructure of a digital state

Democrats and human rights activists are working to increase international pressure on Lukashenka in the UN and the European Parliament and laying the groundwork for bringing the regime to justice. The “New Belarus” initiative has created a pilot project to deduct taxes in Poland and Lithuania to build a digital state able to deliver services that political exiles are deprived of by the Lukashenka regime.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya will visit the USA at the invitation of Congress and meet with its leaders. Her developing contacts in Washington have increasing influence on policymaking in relation to support for Belarusian independent media, preparing mechanisms for holding security forces to account and international isolation of the Lukashenka regime.

The UN called on Belarusian authorities to cease systematic repression and immediately release all political prisoners, and the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for extended sanctions on Minsk and the preparation of legal proceedings against Belarusian officials involved in human rights violations.

Meanwhile, independent journalists from the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) draw the attention of the international human rights organisations to repression in Belarus.

Democrat rhetoric and promotion of the sanction agenda are escalating in response to repression and long prison terms imposed on dissidents. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya expressed solidarity with analysts Valeriya Kostyugova and Tatsiana Kuzina (10 years in prison each) and journalists Maryna Zolatava and Lyudmila Chekina (12 years in prison each) and emphasised her commitment to the strategy of forcing Lukashenka to resign through civil disobedience and peaceful methods of pressure.

The Coordination Council elected new leadership and announced its intention to increase its role in the democratic movement, representing all political forces, including critics of the broad coalition led by Tsikhanouskaya.

Cyber partisans continue to attack Russian online infrastructure supporting war and censorship, successfully breaching the AS “KOV” protected messenger used by Roskomnadzor.

“New Belarus” is improving its services and launching a pilot digital self-government project offering Belarusians in Poland and Lithuania to donate part of their taxes to partner initiatives and jointly decide on the distribution of collected funds.

The forces led by Tsikhanouskaya will continue to isolate the Lukashenka regime internationally and advocate non-violent resistance.