The Coordination Council Returns to the Agenda of the Democratic Movement

The democratic forces are revitalizing the discussion around the Coordination Council (CC) and are again drawing the attention of their audiences to this political institution. The media discussion is motivating supporters of change to participate in the CC elections. Democratic forces are taking steps to alleviate tensions in the Lithuanian community regarding Belarusian emigrants and to prevent various restrictions.

Part of the Lithuanian establishment interprets the growth of the Belarusian diaspora as a threat to national security. As a result, they are trying to consolidate all the problematic issues into a single pool of threats from the Lukashenka and Putin regimes to justify extraordinary security measures. Over the past few years, the number of Belarusians in Lithuania has increased to 63,000, accounting for just over 2.2% of the population (2.86 million). In an effort to ease tensions, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s office communicates with Lithuanian politicians, and Belarusian businesses develop horizontal connections. For example, the III Belarusian Business Forum took place in Vilnius, attended by Belarusian business, Lithuanian parliamentarians, representatives of ministries, lawyers, and experts.

The leader of democratic Belarus emphasizes the attention of Western capitals on developing a specific strategy towards Belarus. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece, met with the President of Greece, and the Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski. The democratic leader proposed a dual approach towards Belarus: isolating the Lukashenko regime and supporting the civil society — including freedom of movement for Belarusians.

Democratic forces have ousted representatives of the Lukashenka regime from the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

Political organizations have overcome discrepancies and started preparing for the elections of the new composition of the CC. Tsikhanouskaya’s office has answered the most pressing questions about the activities of the CC, motivating supporters of the democratic leader to participate in the elections.

Politicians and activists are striving to bring independent media to the agenda to interest supporters and attract them to participate in forming the new composition of the CC. Independent media are gradually increasing attention to this institution of democratic forces.

Thus, attention to the CC will increase as the elections approach and electoral lists are formed, which will help to engage a broad audience in voting.