Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaia, activist and leader of the Belarusian opposition, and Tania Marinich, a businesswoman of the same nationality, spoke to journalists about the challenges that Belarusians and companies from the country have faced, particularly with the new Nationality Law in Portugal. On the first day of the Web Summit, the politician and the entrepreneur joined forces to explain the legal limbo that they have felt in the first person and share a possible solution: the creation of the “Passport of New Belarus”.
Tania Marinich realize how you feel “unable to plan long-term, invest or rebuild fully”, what will happen to many immigrants from BelarusRussians. However, these expatriates “They already contribute to the innovation ecosystem: creating jobs, bringing investments and defending the freedoms that made Europe what it is”, he guarantees. Although many still have their Belarusian passport and active residence documents, one day they will expire, and it is in this uncertainty that many find themselves.
Without “Belarusian administrative or embassy” support, peopleSoas are left without any legal status. “No can open a bank account e you can’t ask go for helpverno local”, stated.
The situation in Belarus remains critical. Aleksandr Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime continues to repress political opposition, independent media and civil society. Since the contested 2020 elections, thousands of citizens have been detained, and many have been forced into exile. This widespread repression led to the creation of Belarusian communities abroad, the majority of whom are in Poland and Lithuania. Today, these communities face bureaucratic and legal recognition challenges in several European countries, especially after their passports expire.
What about after your passport expires?
In neighboring countries, such as Poland and Lithuania, residence permits are the solution to expired passports. In the remaining countries of the European Union (EU) this is not yet possible, and it was with Belarusians in these countries in mind that the businesswoman presented the “Passport of New Belarus”, an edited passport, independently issued by the Belarusian community in exile. “It is the IKO standard size, biometric, it corresponds to all the necessary standardsbut it is something unconventional, creative; and now we are working, obviously, with governments from different countries, to politically recognize these documents as an additional verification document”, explained Tania Marinich, adding that in Germany there is already an agreement that provides for the acceptance, by the government, of these edited passports.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaia, In addition to being a human rights activist, she is the main opponent of the regionme of Alexander Lukashenko. He asks “all the giants, like Google, Meta, Tiktokto Microsoft, which support all those who fight for freedom.” Notmthe time when security and defense are the focus of the EUthe activist recalled the social responsibility of these large companiessas: “Sometimes we are more powerful than the government, so make sure that your platforms do not give space to dictators like Putin or Lukashenko”, he stated.
As explained by Marinich, a set of proposals has already been prepared for the Portuguese government to take into account, in Nationality LawBelarusians contributing to the local and European economy. Tsikhanouskaia called for a resolution to this problem and recalled that “Belarusians are doubly refugees, first they fled because of oppression, then they fled Ukraine because of the war”.
Belarusians “cannot return anywhere, neither to Belarus nor to Ukraine. This is therefore a matter of a systemic problem that also needs to be resolved systemically”, these.
Text written by Margarida Nogueira and edited by Pedro Miguel Coelho