On Thursday 8 October 2020, President Zuzana Čaputová received Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a former presidential candidate and representative of the Belarusian opposition, at the Presidential Palace. 

The President inquired about current developments in Belarus and the possibilities for a political solution to the situation in the country. In this context, she expressed support for the non-violent protests in Belarus, strongly condemned regime brutality and backed calls for a new, free and democratic presidential election. She wished Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and the Belarusian democratic opposition great strength and determination in their endeavours. 

President Čaputová said that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya had already made great sacrifices for her country. While her husband remained in a Belarusian jail, she had been forced to leave her home in Minsk involuntarily. “Her efforts, and the way she has not lost hope despite her difficult situation deserve our respect. The whole democratic world, Slovakia included, believes in the legitimacy of the calls of hundreds of thousands of protesting Belarusian men and women for free elections. The beating and arrest of people who are demonstrating peacefully, the denial of medical treatment for injured demonstrators and the deportation of opposition figures from the country are signs that Lukashenko’s regime has lost its legitimacy and is unable to retain power without violence against the country’s own citizens.”