MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th September, 2020) Former Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said on Sunday that the Polish authorities had promised to her to provide Minsk with financial assistance once a new presidential election is held in Belarus.
Tikhanovskaya, who left Belarus for Lithuania shortly after the August 9 presidential election, visited Poland earlier this week.
"This week I had a working trip to Poland. I met with Polish Prime Minister [Mateusz] Morawiecki, and we had a warm and productive conversation. Of course, the Polish authorities and people display great solidarity with the Belarusian people now. They remember their struggle for rights and can relate to our situation ... And they expressed their readiness in the future, after a new and transparent election is held, to support us in any way, to invest in us and provide financial assistance in the early stages of our economic development," Tikhanovskaya said in a YouTube stream, answering viewers' questions.
According to the ex-presidential candidate, she holds "daily telephone conversations and personal meetings with leaders and representatives of different countries" to discuss the situation in Belarus with them.
Tikhanovskaya also said that the Belarusian opposition-led Coordination Council, which by now lost most of the members of its leadership board to persecution by the incumbent authorities in Minsk, will continue to function, albeit the decision-making will be limited to fewer people.
"[The council] was beheaded, but it continues to work. The decisions on future work will now be made by a narrow circle of Coordination Council members," Tikhanovskaya said, adding that the council would "continue to remain the main instrument for dialogue between the so-called authorities and people."
Belarusian opposition initiated mass protests nationwide after a presidential election on August 9 saw incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko reelected for a sixth term. While according to the electoral authorities he collected over 80 percent of the vote, the opposition has insisted that Tikhanovskaya won the election.
Police cracked down on protesters during the first several days of the unrest, but have since halted the excessive use of force. More than 6,700 people were detained during the initial phase of the protest. According to the Belarusian Interior Ministry, three people died and several hundred others sustained injuries during that period, including more than 130 security officers.
The Coordination Council was established on August 14 with the goal to carry out a peaceful transition of power. The Belarusian authorities, convinced that the council pursues an unconstitutional grab of power and threatens national security, launched persecution of the Coordination Council board of chairmen. So far all but one members were either arrested or fled Belarus.
Protests, both pro-opposition and pro-Lukashenko, are still ongoing in Minsk and other large cities.
