Nobel Peace Prize laureate discussed the issue of Belarus’s independent trade unions with the Prime Minister of Lithuania

On 27 April 2026, Ales Bialiatski, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and head of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, met with Inga Ruginienė, Prime Minister of Lithuania. During the meeting, the two sides discussed a broad range of issues related to human rights, political persecution and support for Belarusian civil society.

A particular focus of the discussion was the persecution of independent trade unions in Belarus and cooperation on this issue with the International Labour Organization. This remains a matter of fundamental importance against the backdrop of ongoing repression against trade union activists, the liquidation of independent trade union organisations, and the imprisonment of their leaders.

It is worth noting that the Prime Minister has a trade union background and is well informed about the situation regarding workers’ rights in Belarus. In 2012, she was elected Deputy Chair of the Lithuanian Trade Union of Forest and Forest Industry Workers, and two years later she was elected its Chair. At the organisation’s congress in 2018, she was elected Chair of the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation, and in 2023 she became Vice-President of the European Trade Union Confederation.

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