Pavel Latushka: It Is Important to Strengthen the Power of Our Institutions

Pavel Latushka. Warsaw, 2026

"You need to be Belarusians. Be Belarusians — that is what would be needed," said Pavel Latushka, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet and delegate of the Coordination Council, responding to a moderator's question about what Belarusians can do to support democratic forces, during the discussion panel "Political Advocacy: Challenges and Opportunities" at the 5th Conference of Belarusians of the World.

"As a Belarusian politician, it is strange for me to say what Belarusians can do to help us. While still serving as Minister of Culture, I initiated the adoption of the law 'On Belarusians Abroad.' And I am proud of that. I was the first chairman of the Advisory Council of Belarusians Abroad as Minister of Culture, and I developed the support programme for Belarusians living abroad. I recall that at the time we managed to increase funding for Belarusians residing abroad tenfold.

And today I am no longer a member of the Government in Belarus, but a representative of the executive body — the United Transitional Cabinet — and I should rather be concerned with what I can do for Belarusians.

We have a unique infrastructure; the democratic movement of Belarus has never had what we have today. We have the Office of the President-elect, the executive body — the United Transitional Cabinet, the Coordination Council, elected by Belarusians. And this Coordination Council is recognised by international partners — the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, Euronest, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Senate of Poland — and this uniqueness can be sustained exclusively through elections, through the votes of Belarusians."

During the discussion, Pavel Latushka also called for strengthening institutions: "Let us imagine an idealistic scenario: elections take place on 11–17 May. I will say at once that this is a dream, but what if one million people voted for the Council. Can you imagine what mandate it would have when communicating with our partners?"

Pavel Latushka stressed that in such a case it would be hard to imagine our partners beginning to engage with the regime without taking the voice of Belarusians into account.

During the discussion, Pavel Latushka noted the demand among international partners for the expertise of Belarusian democratic forces on the situation in Belarus. As an example, he mentioned that regular meetings are held with European analytical centres. NAM has prepared reports such as "The Lukashenko Regime's Systemic Preparation for a Possible Entry into the War on the Side of Russia and Recommendations for Preventing This Scenario," "The Union State as a Tool for Concealing Russia's Imperial Policy," and "The Battle for Belarus: The Lukashenko Regime's Systemic Policy of Destroying Belarusian Identity and Promoting the 'Russian World,'" which have been in demand in expert circles.

Pavel Latushka shared important achievements of the CR delegation at PACE, emphasising that PACE did not recognise the presidential elections of 2025, but Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the United Transitional Cabinet, and the Coordination Council were recognised — this is reflected in the fundamental political resolutions.

"Amendments were introduced by the CR delegation at PACE to resolutions establishing that Lukashenko bears responsibility for committing an act of aggression against Ukraine, as well as amendments related to the unlawful transfer of Ukrainian children. Our expert reports by NAM and their legal substantiation assisted in the adoption of a number of PACE resolutions. A report on transnational crimes is currently being prepared and, regrettably, the Belarusian community abroad is among the 'leaders' in terms of persecution. The rapporteur will likely include this in the report: what mass crimes are being committed against Belarusians, and a corresponding resolution will follow in due course. And this assists us in criminal court proceedings to hold Lukashenko accountable."

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