We need to differentiate between the Belarusian people who oppose the war in Ukraine and the "obedient" regime of Alexander Lukashenko, exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said in Zagreb on Thursday.

Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman promised Tsikhanouskaya Croatia’s support in her “democratic efforts”.

“We are looking forward to further cooperation and you can count on Croatia’s support in your democratic efforts”, Grlic-Radman said at a joint press conference with Tsikhanouskaya.

Tsikhanouskaya ran against long-time Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in the August 2020 presidential election.

After the official announcement of Lukashenko’s victory, large protests broke out in the country due to what the Opposition and the West believed were rigged elections, and Tsikhanouskaya, who was leading the protests, was soon expelled from the country.

“We extremely respect the efforts that Tsikhanouskaya is investing in the fight for the democratic future of the Belarusian people, which we in Croatia know and understand very well because we ourselves defended our freedom more than 30 years ago,” Grlic-Radman pointed out.

“Croatia is giving strong support to democratic forces,” he added.

‘We can learn a lot from Croats’

Tsikhanouskaya thanked Grlic-Radman for the support of “democratic Belarus”.

She said it is necessary to distinguish between the “Belarusian people and the regime”, adding that the government is responsible for the fact that Russia is using Belarusian territory in the war against Ukraine, even though its people oppose it.

She believes that Croats and Belarusians share a “struggle for independence against a dictatorship.” “We can learn a lot from the Croats,” she said.

Tsikhanouskaya emphasised that it is important that Croatia issues visas to Belarusian citizens because Belarus “has become a big prison and it is important that people have the opportunity to leave the country and continue their struggle”.

‘Belarusian partisans’

Tsikhanouskaya and Grlic-Radman talked about scholarships for students, help to the Belarusian diaspora, strengthening Lukashenko’s isolation and in Tsikhanouskaya’s words “how to help Belarusian partisans and volunteers.”

When asked by the journalist to clarify what she meant specifically, Tsikhanouskaya said that “Belarusian partisans” participated in railroad sabotage at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine and slowed down the flow of Russian troops.

Currently they are “closely monitoring” the movement of Russian forces and equipment and “providing information to our Ukrainian friends”.

As for aid, she said that it concerns “technical assistance, support to families”.

Lukashenko will not go directly to war

Currently, Belarus does not participate with its own forces in the war with Ukraine, although the Russian army uses its territory for attacks on Ukraine.

Tsikhanouskaya does not believe that this will change, because currently Lukashenko is a “very obedient” and “very cheap” ally to Putin, and both know that the participation of Belarusian forces in the war would “destabilise the situation in the country.”

“Belarusian soldiers do not want to participate in this war. We do not see Ukrainians as our enemies. We have always been friendly countries. Lukashenko is a puppet, Putin’s vassal. He knows that the Belarusian army does not want to die for the usurpers,” she said.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic will meet with Tsikhanouskaya later on Thursday.