Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaja

Europe in the World - What about Freedom and Democracy?

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is a political activist and leader of the Belarusian Democratic Movement. She ran in the 2020 presidential elections after her husband was refused permission to enter the elections and was arrested. Shortly after the elections, Tsikhanouskaya was forced to leave Belarus.

As the leader of the Belarusian democratic movement, she is gathering support and advocating for the release of political prisoners and a peaceful transition of power through free and fair elections. When the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine started, Tsikhanouskaya announced an anti-war movement to prevent the participation of Belarus.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya became a symbol of the peaceful struggle for democracy, rule of law and strong female leadership. Among other distinctions, she is a recipient of the Sakharov Prize awarded by the European Parliament, 2022 International Four Freedoms Award, Charlemagne Prize and  Fritz Csoklich Democracy Award.