Belarusians in Vilnius renew calls for democratic change

Belarusians living in Lithuania gathered in Vilnius on Sunday to mark the sixth anniversary of mass protests against the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenko, with many saying they still believe political change is possible. LRT reported, citing BNS.

The commemoration began in the afternoon with a rally in Cathedral Square, where former political prisoners, politicians, civil society representatives and friends of Belarus addressed about 100 people.

Participants carried or wore Belarus’s historic white-and-red flags, chanted “Long live Belarus!” and sang songs that have become symbols of Belarusian solidarity.

Most of the Belarusians who spoke to BNS said, although without much enthusiasm, that they believed the political situation in Belarus could change in the near future. Others were less optimistic.

“I am not as optimistic as I was six years ago,” said Anatoliy Chinevich, a 32-year-old who had worked as an IT specialist in Belarus.

Chinevich said he had spent two and a half years in prison and identified himself as a former political prisoner. “The official version is that I kicked three OMON officers during the riots,” he said.

Kaciaryna Kanapliova, a 31-year-old French teacher who moved to Lithuania four years ago, said she still hoped the situation in Belarus would change.

“Of course, we have hope; our faith has not faded. Perhaps in a few years,” she told BNS. “Our goal is to preserve our Belarusian identity. Even if we live in different countries, we want to preserve our identity.”

“Today we want to remember that many people continue to fight. Many people continue to suffer, and our goal is to show that Belarus is still resisting Lukashenko and still resisting Vladimir Putin,” Kanapliova said. “We want to show this to everyone around us, Lithuanians and people of other nationalities.”

Tatjana, a 53-year-old former administrator at a medical centre in Belarus, said she continued to hope that conditions in her homeland would change. She attended the rally to remind others that “Lukashenko lost the 2020 election”.

“Today we are continuing the fight for a free, democratic Belarus. We are doing what the people of Belarus cannot do,” she said. Tatjana said she had left Belarus and avoided criminal prosecution after being detained twice, in 2022 and 2024, when a criminal case was opened against her.

Ilja Mironov, a 44-year-old former logistics specialist in Gomel who was later imprisoned in Belarus, also said he believed the political situation would change.

“We all remember the Soviet Union. It collapsed literally within six months, and no one in 1990 could imagine that this was possible,” Mironov told BNS. “That Soviet empire collapsed, and independent republics emerged, including the Baltic states, Belarus and others. So everything can change in Belarus as well.”

He said the situation in Belarus depended first of all on how quickly Ukraine won the war launched by Russia.

Mironov said he had joined protests in a square in Gomel in August 2020 despite attempts to intimidate demonstrators, including television broadcasts showing violent arrests. He said he did not regret taking part and would do so again. He spent two years in prison for his activities and was forced to leave Belarus.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who moved from Vilnius to Warsaw this year, said in a statement on Sunday that the Belarusian fight for democracy was not over.

“We are determined to finish what we started in 2020. And I truly believe that Belarus can become a success story, a story of transition from dictatorship to democracy,” she said. Tsikhanouskaya called for continued support for Belarus, the release of political prisoners, further pressure on the Lukashenko regime and firm support for Ukraine.

According to Lithuania’s Migration Department, about 48,000 Belarusian citizens have residence permits in Lithuania.