DEMOCRACY IN EXILE: BELARUS IN FRANCE

October 2025

Editos/Point of view

FONDEMOS’ VIEW

In France, on October 6-7, 2025, the reception of the Belarusian government in exile reminds us that the fight for freedom does not stop at borders.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, head of the democratic government in exile, is welcomed by the French Parliament alongside her ministers.
Since 2020, after elections massively tainted by fraud and the brutal repression orchestrated by Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime, thousands of Belarusians have fled the country.

In exile, the democratic government has sought to keep alive the voice of the Belarusian people: supporting civil society, advocating internationally, and denouncing the regime’s crimes.
These meetings in Paris underscore the importance of international solidarity with activists and politicians committed to freedom and democracy wherever they may be.

The Minsk regime, meanwhile, continues to imprison opponents and journalists, while silencing all dissent. According to the NGO Viasna, more than 1,100 political prisoners were still detained in Belarus in 2024.

In this context, exile is not a choice but a necessity. As Tsikhanouskaya reminded:

“We fight for justice so that every perpetrator of oppression, of torture and war crimes is held accountable.”
A cry for freedom, speech by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya at the European Parliament, March 8, 2025

For democrats around the world, the presence of the Belarusian government in exile in France is a powerful message: resistance movements must prepare not only to confront repression but also to build, even from exile, the institutions of a democratic future.

The struggle for Belarusian freedom knows neither borders nor exile. It continues, every day, carried forward by those who refuse oblivion.