C T Online Desk: US President Joe Biden met Wednesday with exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in Vilnius while attending a NATO summit, the White House said.
Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory against Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in 2020 presidential elections, has been in exile since the aftermath of the disputed vote, and lives in Lithuania.
Biden’s meeting with Tikhanovskaya underscored “the continued commitment of the United States to defend and advance human rights, including freedom of expression, and free and fair elections in Belarus,” the White House said.
Belarus is an authoritarian state in which opposition voices and independent media have been stifled during Lukashenko’s nearly three decades in power.
