A meeting between released Belarusian trade union leaders and the ITUC General Secretary took place in Lithuania

On 16 September in Vilnius, a three-hour meeting took place between recently released Belarusian trade union leaders — Aliaksandr Yarashuk, Chair of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), and Hennadz Fiadynich, former head of the Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REP) — and the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Luc Triangle.

Luc Triangle travelled to Vilnius specifically to personally welcome the leaders following their release from prison on 11 September, when 52 political prisoners were freed in Belarus. Among them were two key figures of the independent trade union movement: Aliaksandr Yarashuk, sentenced in 2022 to four years in a penal colony, and Hennadz Fiadynich, sentenced in 2023 to nine years. Both are now safe in Lithuania.

The main focus of the meeting was on the steps the international trade union movement could take to secure the release of the remaining imprisoned Belarusian trade union activists. According to BKDP, more than 20 trade union leaders and activists are still behind bars.

The discussion was thorough and constructive, lasting over three hours and resulting in an agreed programme of action.

The meeting took place at the offices of the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation (LPSK) and brought together the leadership of Lithuania’s two national trade union centres — LPSK and Solidarumas. Also present were Anton Leppik, Executive Secretary of ITUC-PERC, and Sergeyus Glovackas, The Desk Officer of the Bureau of Workers' Activities of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACTRAV).

The Vilnius meeting was not only a strong gesture of trade union solidarity but also an important step towards developing a common international strategy to defend Belarusian trade unionists who remain prisoners of the Lukashenko regime.

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