Pavel Latushka: "It is important that Lukashenko understands that the EU’s position will not change until he undertakes real changes in his policies"

"Our most important goal is the release of all political prisoners from Lukashenko’s prisons, but the strategic goal is democratic change in Belarus", said Pavel Latushka, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet and delegate of the Coordination Council, during a meeting at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Warsaw held in connection with International Human Rights Day.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Belarusian independent media and non-governmental organizations.

Pavel Latushka informed the Czech side about the situation with ongoing repression in Belarus, which continues and shows no signs of decreasing.

The politician recalled that as of today, according to data from the human rights center Viasna, there are 1,217 political prisoners in Belarus, while according to Dissidentby, the number stands at 1,273. Lukashenko is conducting negotiations with the American side, but at the same time deceiving the Americans, having in fact released — thanks to the efforts of the U.S. side — four times fewer political prisoners than were officially recognized after the most recent release on 11 September 2025.

"We must look very carefully and realistically at the fact that Lukashenko is not changing his repressive policies", Pavel Latushka emphasized.

Pavel Latushka stressed the importance of the EU’s position voiced in Brussels by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, that the EU will continue to support Belarus’s democratic forces, noting the need "to isolate, including through additional sanctions, a regime that for four years has been assisting Russia in waging an aggressive war against Ukraine".

The Deputy Head of the Cabinet appealed to the Czech side to support the Cabinet’s position that the regime must first enter into dialogue with Belarusian society and democratic institutions and undertake real changes in its policies, and only after that may it expect any changes in the EU’s position.

"It is important that Lukashenko sees unity in the EU’s position toward his criminal regime and understands that the EU’s position will not change until the regime undertakes real changes in its internal repressive and external aggressive policies", Pavel Latushka stressed.

The representative of the United Transitional Cabinet also informed the ambassador and Czech diplomats about the activities of the Cabinet and the Coordination Council and appealed to Czech representatives to support efforts by the Government of the Czech Republic to hold Lukashenko accountable for crimes against humanity committed against the Belarusian people.

The inspiration for this meeting, which Czech diplomatic missions hold annually, is an initiative of French President François Mitterrand. On 9 December 1988, he held a breakfast meeting with representatives of Charter 77 led by Czech dissident Václav Havel (who later became President of the Czech Republic after democratic changes) at the French Embassy in Prague.

---