[ad_1]
LEADER IN EXILE: Svetlana Tikhanovskaya fled to neighboring Lithuania after presidential elections in Belarus in August. Here she is giving a press conference in Vilnius on August 21. Photo: STR / EPA
Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H) will meet with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya during her visit to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius next week.
– I look forward to meeting Tikhanovskaya and hearing her opinion on how we and the international community as such can contribute in the best possible way, Solberg writes in an SMS to VG.
The Norwegian prime minister is scheduled to take a day trip to Vilnius next Tuesday.
He will also meet with the Lithuanian President and Prime Minister and visit Norwegian soldiers stationed at the NATO forward base in Lithuania.
– The crowd that day after day walks the streets of Minsk and other cities of Belarus, shows how deep is the desire for change and democratic development of the Belarusian people. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is a leading figure in the protests. She calls for dialogue and a peaceful solution to the situation, Solberg writes to VG.
also read
Opposition leader: Ready to lead Belarus
Tikhanovskaya was the main rival of current president Alexander Lukashenko in the elections three weeks ago. He has been president for 26 years.
The authorities declared Lukashenko the winner of the elections with more than 80 percent of the vote. Then hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. Since then, the demonstrations have continued and the state apparatus has faced them with fierce counterattacks and extensive acts of violence and detentions.
