Watch: Belarussian Activist Cycles Through Malta And EU To Bust Myths And Raise Awareness
Belarussian activist Dmitry Bolkunets has spent over 100 days cycling through EU member states and his travels took him to Malta this week.
However, this is no ordinary holiday.
Bolkunets, the co-founder of the Belarus Democratic Forum, wants to use his trip to show Belarussian followers what life is really like in the EU.
“Some of my followers are unable to visit the EU due to visa issues and resources, and they have some stereotypes,” he told Lovin Malta. “Belarussian and Russian propaganda show on national TV that people in Europe have no food, electricity or gas. It’s crazy.”
“A few years ago, Russian state TV even claimed that people in the US and EU have resorted to eating rats because there’s no food left.”
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“I also want to show my followers what European streets really look like, because sometimes Belarussians are told that theirs is the only country which has no dirt on the streets. It’s clean, but I saw many other clean places in Europe.”
Bolkunets is also using his trip to raise awareness in Europe about the significant number of political prisoners in Belarus.
He warned that Belarussians are constantly arrested for their online activity, with the government sometimes even seizing their properties.
“There are currently around 1,300 political prisoners now, which is the biggest repression per capita since the World War 2 and it’s a human catastrophe,” he said.
“Everyday my colleagues and I try to help people suffering in prison, and we’re collecting signatures to urge EU leaders and US President Trump to help us release more than 400 prisoners.”
Bolkunets hopes to see Belarus eventually align more closely with the EU than with Russia and has called on the EU to rethink its current strategy.
“I encourage the EU to allow Belarussians to receive a visa without any limitations, because sometimes they have to pay up to $700 in assistance to acquire one.”
“In a way, the EU has shown Belarussians their back instead of their face, while Russia is giving Lukashenko money and resources.”
“The EU is only promising to give us €3 billion once the regime is gone but I believe this is a mistake.”
He argued that Belarus could play a strategically important role as a buffer between Russia and the Baltic states, which he warned Vladimir Putin might one day attack to create an uninterrupted passage between mainland Russia and Kaliningrad.
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