Lithuanian president says Tsikhanouskaya’s protection issue overly dramatized

VILNIUS - The decision to modify the protection arrangements for Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has become a matter of political debate and is being overly dramatized, President Gitanas Nauseda said on Tuesday.

"I see that this issue keeps being used for political point-scoring. (...) Our agencies have carefully assessed the level of threat and overall security situation concerning Ms. Tsikhanouskaya and her team," he told reporters in Akmene.

According to Nauseda, Tsikhanouskaya’s security situation has "changed for the better," which is why it was recommended not to remove her protection altogether but to adjust it.

"It is unfortunate that all sorts of far-reaching political conclusions have been drawn from this, apparently in an attempt to dramatize the issue, and now we find ourselves in the situation we are in," the president said.

"Ms. Tsikhanouskaya and her team remain welcome in Lithuania. We are always ready to offer refuge to those who are persecuted, and I hope that, having assessed all the circumstances, they will choose to stay and continue their opposition work here. We will provide all the necessary conditions for that," he added.

Earlier on Tuesday, the president’s chief foreign policy advisor Asta Skaisgiryte told Ziniu Radijas that final decisions on the level of protection for Tsikhanouskaya had not yet been made.

According to her, Nauseda believes Tsikhanouskaya should continue to be protected, while the level and methods of that protection should be determined by the relevant agencies.

Lithuania reduced the level of protection for Tsikhanouskaya and her office in October.

Officials say the Criminal Police Bureau will now be responsible for her protection instead of the Dignitary Protection Service.

The change means Tsikhanouskaya’s home and office will continue to be guarded, but she no longer has personal protection either in Lithuania or abroad.

Supporters of the decision say the change reflects the current level of threat and was made for technical reasons.

Critics, however, suspect that the move was politically motivated, aimed at appeasing those who believe Tsikhanouskaya, who came to Lithuania in 2020, has been given too much attention and that too many resources have been allocated to her protection. They say the decision undermines her status as the opposition leader.

Tsikhanouskaya's office said it continues to operate despite the revised security arrangements, although only part of the staff currently works on site. They say the number of threats has increased since Lithuania's decision.