Bronx, NY—Chairman Eliot L. Engel and Ranking Member Michael T. McCaul of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today released the following statement on the reports that democracy advocate and former opposition presidential candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, was put on the wanted list of the so-called “Union State” of Russia and Belarus:

“We strongly condemn the Putin regime’s decision to join Belarus in adding Belarusian opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, to an interstate wanted list. This latest move by Lukashenka and his Kremlin enablers to bolster his illegitimate rule shows just how deeply authoritarians like Lukashenka and Putin fear the power of democracy. The United States, alongside our European allies and Canada, will continue to support the Belarusian people’s calls to chart their own future and to demand that Russia fully respect Belarus’ sovereignty.”

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