normal life. we don t want our pensioners to live in poverty. this is what we want, our economy to develop and how it will be fulfilled, that s the question. and this question, people have to answer. isn t the truth that as you sit here with me in london you re about to go see the foreign secretary, political avenues you are pursuing across the western world isn t the truth that your fate now and the fate of belarus really hangs with the fate of ukraine? if putin succeeds in asserting his control, subjugating ukraine, it is going to be a disaster for your attempts to remove lukashenko. you know, it s a pity to admit, but, yes, the fate of ukraine and fate of belarus are deeply interconnected. and on the outcome of this war depends how long my husband will spend injail, how long
ultimate control, of your country, belarus, as well. so is your message to your people in belarus that you now are fighting for a belarus that will break free of moscow s control and will, like the zelensky government in ukraine, look westward to membership of the eu, maybe of nato? what is your vision for belarus? first of all, we have to return democracy in our country and then ask people, what do you want? because before the war started, there were polls where people responded that about 60% of people wanted a good relationship with russia, and the same 60% wanted a good relationship with the european union. we are really peaceful people. but the new generation is, of course, pro democratic, the new generation know how we can live if we have a normal government.
practical decisions. so for you, as, you know, leader, figurehead leader of the anti lukashenko opposition, are you saying to me you could imagine a future where belarus is in nato, inside the eu, or not? what is democracy about? it s about the will of the people. before answering this question, i have to ask belarusians, where do you want to go? people want to live a normal life. we don t want our pensioners to live in poverty. this is what we want, our economy to develop and how it will be fulfilled, that s the question. and this question, people have to answer. isn t the truth that, as you sit here with me in london you re about to go see the foreign secretary, political avenues you are pursuing across the western world isn t the truth that your fate now and the fate of belarus really hangs with the fate of ukraine? if putin succeeds in asserting his control, subjugating ukraine, it is going to be a disaster for your attempts
to the fate of ukraine? svetla na tikhanovskaya, welcome to hardtalk. hello. it s nice to have you in our studio. tell me, what are your feelings as you see your country, belarus, being used as a launchpad for vladimir putin s invasion of ukraine? you know, on 2a february, we woke up in a new reality, and we understood that lukashenko gave our land as the aircraft carrier for putin s troops to invade ukraine. we were shocked. nobody believed that the war could start because we remember the pain of world war ii,
to vladimir putin using belarus to invade ukraine, you run the risk of putin turning his forces and his anger on belarus. you know what putin is capable of, are you prepared to run that risk with the security of your own country? look, our country is de facto under partial military occupation, and lukashenko is not responsible for his decisions any more. he has to consult with kremlin about his future actions, so we belarusians have to take responsibility for the independence of our country. and when we talk about invasion of ukraine, i have to say that belarus was first for invasion. but the difference is that lukashenko became a collaborant with the kremlin, and ukrainians didn t. obviously, it is very difficult