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European Parliament Awards Sakharov Prize to Belarus Opposition

RFE/RL

   Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and other leaders
   of the country's democratic opposition were awarded the European
   Parliament's 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in a ceremony
   on December 16 in Brussels.

   Tsikhanouskaya received the prize from European Parliament President
   David Sassoli on behalf of the Coordination Council, a body set up by
   Belarus's political opposition to facilitate a transfer of power in the
   country following a presidential election in August that the opposition
   says was rigged and the West has refused to accept.

   "An invisible wall of fear had been built around us," Tsikhanouskaya
   told European lawmakers in her acceptance speech. "But this year,
   united, we believe that this wall of fear could be taken down, brick by
   brick. The dream of a better Belarus keeps us going.

   "Without a free Belarus, Europe is not truly free," the opposition
   leader said. "Long live Europe, long live Belarus!"

   "Your fight is our fight," Sassoli told the Belarusian opposition
   members during his introduction.

   Tsikhanouskaya has been in Brussels this week for talks with European
   Union leaders ahead of the ceremony to present the prestigious prize.

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