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“By standing up for democratic processes, we are working not only for Europe, but for the entire world. These values must be upheld with conviction. We remain as committed as ever to supporting you and defending democratic principles in Belarus,” said Speaker of the Saeima Daiga Mieriņa on Friday, 9 May, during a meeting at the Saeima with the leader of the Belarusian democratic movement, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya expressed her gratitude to Latvia and the Saeima for their unwavering and principled support—including Latvia’s decision not to recognise the presidential elections held in Belarus in January this year as legitimate. The Speaker and Ms Tsikhanouskaya reaffirmed the importance of continued close cooperation between Latvia and the Belarusian democratic movement at the parliamentary level.

During the discussion on how to curb authoritarian regimes, both sides addressed the issue of sanctions. “We have sent a clear message to our businesses—circumventing sanctions will be treated as a criminal offence,” said Speaker Mieriņa, stressing that sanctions against Belarus should be imposed to the same extent as those applied to Russia. She also pointed to draft legislation currently under consideration in the Saeima as further steps toward dismantling the illusion that cooperation is possible with an undemocratic regime that violates human rights.

In addressing the prospects of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, both sides agreed on the need for a peace settlement based on Ukraine’s terms. The Speaker underlined that Russia poses a threat to the whole of Europe, and that Latvia continues to spotlight, at the European level, the crimes committed by both the Russian and Lukashenko regimes.

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Saeima Press Service