On the 9th of August 2020 the race of the Belarusian presidential election came to its end with what appears to be a landslide victory to the current president, Alexander Lukashenko, and a surprising loss to the popular opponent Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a former teacher and stay-at-home mother, who entered the presidential election in place of her jailed husband. A few days later she was forced to flee to Lithuania when she wanted to contest the official outcome of the election. Since election day, and now for the third week in a row the Belarusians have taken to the streets to peacefully protest the election results. The major factories are on strike and the workers are demanding Lukashenko’s resignation as president and recognition of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya as formally elected president.

When Veronica Tsepkalo’s husband Valery Tsepkalo announced his participation in the 2020 Belarusian presidential election with 160.000 signatures, Veronica accompanied him on his trips. On July 14 2020, Valery was denied registration as a presidential candidate in Belarus. Soon after that, the headquarters of the opposition candidates united their campaigns – Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Valery Tsepkalo, Viktor Babariko. Since the unification of these campaigns, Veronica became her husband’s representative at the campaign rallies for Tikhanovskaya, while Valery and his children left the country fearing for their safety. Veronica Tsepkalo thus became one of the three prominent opposition women behind Tikhanovskaya’s large campaign rallies.

Join us for a live stream with Veronica and Valery Tsepkalo. Valery Tsepkalo is former Ambassador to the United States and Mexico, founder of Belarus Hi-Tech Park and currently governmental expert to the UN Secretary General. Veronica Tsepkalo has a degree in international affairs and economy. They will speak on the aftermath of the election, the resurrection of the Belarusian politics and Belarus as a nation, the current situation and political climate in Belarus, as well as the future of Belarusian politics.
Michael Jarlner Foreign Editor at Politiken and Charlotte Flindt Pedersen, Director of The Danish Foreign Policy Society, will moderate the talk and the following Q&A session.

Please register for the live stream by filling out the form below. The link to the live stream will be sent to you via e-mail 30 minutes before the start of the event.

Please note that this registration does not grant you access to the event at PRESSEN, Politikens Hus. To get a ticket, please follow this link: Register here!

The event is only for members of The Danish Foreign Policy Society.