Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski, pragmatic message from exile: "The EU must negotiate with the regime in Minsk, but only from a position of strength"

Ales Bialiacki, an emblematic figure of resistance in Belarus, issued a complex appeal to European leaders immediately after his release from detention. Arriving safely in Lithuania, the founder of the organization "Viasna" claims that the only real solution to stop the internal terror is direct dialogue with the power in Minsk, but it must be necessarily conditioned by massive external pressure.

Recently released following a diplomatic agreement between the USA and Belarus, the activist explained that, although it seems counterintuitive, negotiations with the torturers are inevitable to save civil society. "Who else should you talk to, if not with those who hold the reins of repression?" Bialiacki pointed out. However, he warned that the regime does not understand classical diplomacy, but only "the language of force."

Although he has served part of the 10-year sentence received in a fabricated case, Bialiacki revealed a new detail about life in prison: the status of Nobel Peace Prize laureate acted as a "physical shield." The guards, intimidated by his international notoriety, avoided brutal physical assaults, limiting themselves to isolation and psychological pressure.

At 63 years old, the dissident promises that the fight for human rights does not stop here, but will continue from exile, being convinced that regime change is just a matter of time.