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Freed Belarusian Opposition Figure Calls for Easing Sanctions as Minsk Remains Aligned With Moscow
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Freed Belarusian opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova has urged the European Union to pursue dialogue with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, saying Belarus’s isolation from Europe is pushing it closer to Russia, according to TV Rain on January 19.
Kolesnikova, one of the best-known faces of Belarus’s 2020 protests, said deeper isolation makes Belarus “less safe and less predictable” for Europe and questioned why European governments had not opened talks with Lukashenko before the United States.
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She pointed to Germany as an example of a country with stronger ties to Belarus than Washington and said sanctions had hit what she described as “strongly Europeanized” Belarusians, noting Belarus once ranked among the leaders in the number of EU Schengen visas issued.
Kolesnikova said Europe should consider engagement tied to concrete humanitarian steps, arguing that Lukashenko is pragmatic and “understands the language of business.”
She said any discussion of easing sanctions should be linked to measures including the release of prisoners and allowing independent media and nongovernmental organizations to operate in Belarus.
Similar arguments have been made by some exiled Russian opposition figures in debates over Western sanctions, including a campaign by Yulia Navalnaya against proposals to tighten EU tourist visa rules for Russians, in which she said measures should target the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, and his enablers rather than ordinary citizens.
A separate dispute erupted in March 2023 when Leonid Volkov, then a senior ally of Alexei Navalny, stepped aside after acknowledging he had written to EU officials seeking sanctions relief for certain businessmen he described as opposing the war
Belarus has been closely aligned with Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, allowing Russian forces to use Belarusian territory and infrastructure, a role that prompted the EU to impose additional sanctions on Minsk over its involvement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in late December that Russia was using Belarusian territory to help guide drone attacks into Ukraine, comments that underscored Kyiv’s long-running concern about threats emanating from across the northern border.
Earlier, it was reported that Latvian authorities presented evidence alleging Belarusian state involvement in facilitating migrant movements into the EU, highlighting tensions between Minsk and European states that could complicate dialogue.
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