Council of Europe opens information hub in Vilnius for Belarusians: “You are not alone”

The Council of Europe has launched an information centre for Belarusians in Vilnius, offering resources on the organisation’s work and democratic values, LRT reports. The hub, located in the National Martynas Mažvydas Library, will also support the Council’s Contact Group for cooperation with Belarusian democratic forces and civil society.

At the opening ceremony, the library’s director-general, Aušrinė Žilinskienė, called the initiative historically significant. “History speaks to us again today and reminds us that democratic values cannot be taken for granted,” she said.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, speaking in Lithuanian, thanked the Council of Europe and Lithuania for the support. “Belarusians, you are not alone—thank you to the Council of Europe and thank you to Lithuania,” she said, emphasising that the centre reinforces Belarus’s ties to Europe and provides a platform for civil dialogue.

Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas reaffirmed Lithuania’s commitment to Belarusian democratic forces, noting the regime’s ongoing human rights violations. “It is symbolic that we open this information point near Independence Square, where our freedom was defended 34 years ago,” he said.

The centre fulfils Lithuania’s 2024 pledges made during its chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. Many Belarusian opposition figures relocated to Lithuania and neighbouring countries after the 2020 election, which was followed by mass protests violently suppressed by Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. Around 65,000 people were detained, and thousands fled. Human rights groups report roughly 1,000 political prisoners remain in Belarus.

Lukashenko, in power for nearly 30 years, won another term in January’s election—condemned by Western observers as the most repressive since Belarus’s independence. The West does not recognise his legitimacy.