Strasbourg – In the embrace between Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Sergei Tikhanovsky before the plenary of the European Parliament, everything was captured in a single moment – above all the human dimension, though not only that. The two leaders of the Belarusian opposition, partners in life, are reunited after Tikhanovsky’s five years of political imprisonment not just as a couple, but as political allies, each completing the other. A case in point: their speeches in Strasbourg.
Tsikhanouskaya and her husband, recently released from prison, took the floor separately, one after the other. Their addresses focused on the same core issues –the situation of political prisoners in Belarus, the cracks in Alexander Lukashenko‘s regime, the fight for a European future, and what Europe has and has not done since 2020. Yet their different tones could hardly have gone unnoticed.
Whether by strategy or instinct, Tsikhanouskaya extended the carrot, praising Brussels’ support for the democratic forces. Tikhanovsky, by contrast, wielded the stick, condemning Europe’s hesitation to stand up for Belarusian citizens while Russia swiftly rallied behind Lukashenko’s regime. Their message, however, was united and clear: a call for the Union to live up to its responsibility to support a country that dreams of a European future – and one day, however distant, of joining the EU.
The carrot
“From the very first day, the European Parliament has stood by our side. While governments hesitated, you acted,” Tsikhanouskaya opened her speech before the MEPs, seven months after her previous address in Strasbourg. She recalled that the EU institution and the democratic forces she has led since 2020 signed a memorandum of cooperation in 2024, “showing that “Belarus’s rightful place is here, in the EU.”
The President of the Coordination Council of Belarus extended her praise to the entire Union with heartfelt words – “Sergei is free thanks to you: your words, your pressure, your solidarity.” She also endorsed the strategy of exerting pressure on Lukashenko’s regime through sanctions: “The economy is stagnating, the deficit keeps growing. He survives primarily on war contracts from Russia. It is time to push harder and demand more.”
Lukashenko’s regime and the Belarusian people are two very different actors. On this point, Tsikhanouskaya offered the words the EU wants to hear: “Change is inevitable.” While the autocrat will never change, the country around him already has, she continued, with the majority of people having chosen “peace, democracy and a European future,” and even the nomenklatura around him is “whispering about transition.”
Another interesting visual choice was that of the Berlin Wall. “Many once believed it would stand forever, just as some now believe the dictatorship in Belarus will never fall. But it will.” With this parallel – particularly striking for MEPs from Eastern European countries – Tsikhanouskaya delivered her point with force: “We must make sure that not only Belarus is ready, but that Europe is ready when the moment comes.”
The compass is to “keep a pro-European spirit alive inside the country” through immediate and tangible EU support. This includes providing contacts, exchanges, and visas for ordinary citizens – opening borders, not closing them – funding independent media such as Zerkalo, Belsat, Nasha Niva, and Radio Free Europe, and preparing democratic institutions in exile to be ready as soon as the window of opportunity opens. “We have already developed a set of reforms – our own European Roadmap – to ensure that Belarus moves toward democracy and to prevent Russia from taking over,” Tsikhanouskaya anticipated.
The stick
Following her, and after the iconic embrace on the podium beside President Roberta Metsola beneath the EU’s twelve-star flag, Tikhanovsky delivered his first address to the European Parliament. Arrested after declaring his candidacy for the 2020 presidential election and released on 21 June 2025, he struck a markedly different tone from his wife: equally determined and committed to Europe, but less conciliatory and more intent on shaking European capitals awake from the torpor in which they remain.
“For a brief moment, we thought we could win. Some of Lukashenko’s government officials expressed sympathy but remained hesitant. They did not side with the people. Why? Because when the time came, the Russians showed up for the fight. Europeans did not,” Tikhanovsky stated bluntly.
Notably, his critique of “Europe’s hesitation” also encompassed the very nature of his country – “a beautiful nation with strong Western European values, a nation that was fully ready to become a member of the EU.” According to Tikhanovsky, this was not only “tragic and unfair,” but also “a serious strategic mistake,” as Europe made the war in Ukraine “almost inevitable by failing to stop Putin in Belarus.”
Over the past five years, Belarusian citizens “have not accepted the dictator,” yet they did not rise up because “they are simply being wise, careful and realistic,” as without allies “we are fighting a losing battle.” From this perspective, Tikhanovsky delivered a wake-up call to the European Union: “You are big, you are strong. You just need confidence, you just need leadership. You just need to get serious.”
With no hint of naivety, he outlined the Belarusian democratic movement’s plan. “We would love to join NATO, but after what happened in Ukraine, we will never be accepted,” he admitted. Instead, Belarus should become “the next Finland of Eastern Europe” – recalling the period before Helsinki joined NATO in 2023, when it learned to live alongside a difficult neighbour like Russia and still build “a successful, independent country without going to war.”
What the 27 EU member states can do is to back this strategy for the continent’s long-term future. “You have the tools, resources and the strength to make it real,” Tikhanovsky concluded his powerful speech. “Europe would benefit if Belarus became a neutral bridge between the EU and Russia. Belarusians would benefit as well.”
