MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th November, 2020) Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a former presidential candidate for the Belarusian opposition, on Friday will hold meetings with the Latvian leadership to discuss the extension of sanctions against Belarusian officials and the boycott of the 2021 Hockey World Championship, the politician's office said.
According to the office, Tikhanovskaya is set to hold talks with Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, President Egils Levits and Prime Minster Krisjanis Karins as part of her working visit to the Baltic state.
"Among other topics, sanctions will be discussed: the expansion of sanctions against security forces who attack civilians, and economic sanctions, as well as the boycott of the 2021 World Hockey Championship [slated to be held in Minsk and Riga] and support of civil society: students, teachers, all those repressed," the office said in a statement.
During the visit, Tikhanovskaya is also expected to deliver a speech at the Riga conference to address the human rights situation in Belarus, meet with the Belarusian diaspora and participate in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Freedom Monument.
Belarus plunged into a prolonged political crisis following the August 9 presidential election, won by incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko. The opposition did not recognize the results, claiming that Tikhanovskaya was the real winner.
Tikhanovskaya fled to Lithuania following the presidential election and has since met with foreign officials to discuss ways to settle the crisis in Belarus.
