Officially, the White House did not report what the US president and Tikhanovskaya were talking about. The leader of the Belarusian opposition said that she called on Biden to help the country with a non-violent transition to democracy
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Joe Biden
US President Joe Biden held a meeting with the leader of the Belarusian opposition and former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. This is stated in a message published on Twitter by the US president.
“It was an honor for me to meet with Tikhanovskaya at the White House this morning. The United States supports the people of Belarus in their quest for democracy and the triumph of human rights, ” the message says.
There was no official information about the meeting between Biden and Tikhanovskaya on the White House website at the time of preparing this material, it is also unknown what the politicians discussed.
Tikhanovskaya said in her Telegram channel that she ” called on President Biden to help us make Belarus a successful example of a non-violent transition to democracy.” According to her, the US president noted that the struggle between autocracy and democracy continues in the world.
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“As a mother of two children, I just hope that they will understand and forgive me for the fact that during these times their mother was not always there for them. No matter how much time and effort the path of Belarus to freedom requires, I am ready to go through it together with Belarusians. And I thank President Biden for supporting us on this path, ” Tikhanovskaya wrote and expressed confidence that all the fighters for freedom and democracy in Belarus will learn about this meeting.
The day before, Tikhanovskaya participated in negotiations with representatives of the American administration in the United States. Following the meeting, she expressed hope that Washington will impose sectoral sanctions against Belarus. At a meeting with representatives of the Belarusian diaspora, which took place after the negotiations, Tikhanovskaya said that it was about sectoral sanctions, but at such meetings it is difficult to get any promises.
“I really hope that in the near future the United States will respond to our meeting and sectoral sanctions will be imposed,” she said.
Tikhanovskaya was not a professional politician, her husband Sergey, an entrepreneur and a well-known blogger, was going to fight for the presidential post in 2020 in Belarus. He was not allowed to participate in the elections, now he is in prison in Belarus. After the arrest of her husband, Tikhanovskaya was nominated as a presidential candidate, the Belarusian CEC officially registered her and allowed her to participate in the elections.
Tikhanovskaya left Belarus in 2020 after the presidential election on August 9, which, according to the CEC, was won by the current president of the republic Alexander Lukashenko. Officially, Tikhanovskaya, as a participant in the presidential election, won the support of 10.09% of voters, and Lukashenko-80.08%. The headquarters of Tikhanovskaya announced falsifications during the counting of votes, according to the version of the oppositionist’s associates, it was she who won the elections.
After the elections, the opposition began to protest in Belarus, which did not agree with the results of the vote and demanded the resignation of Lukashenka and the holding of new elections. The protests lasted for several weeks and turned into violent clashes with security forces and mass detentions. Lukashenka accused Western countries of organizing the protests. Tikhanovskaya called her departure from Belarus an independent decision, and her confidant Olga Kovalkova said that Tikhanovskaya had no choice.
Western countries and the United States did not recognize the results of the elections in Belarus, but they also did not recognize the victory of Tikhanovskaya in them. Russia congratulated Lukashenka on his victory, Moscow has repeatedly stated that it considers interference in the affairs of a neighboring state unacceptable.
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