Ms. Tsikhanouskaya became the leader of the Belarusian democratic movement in 2020 when she challenged Aleksandr Lukashenko in Belarus’ presidential election. Forced to leave Belarus after that election, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya now lives in Vilnius, Lithuania, where she heads Belarus’ United Transitional Cabinet in exile. Among other awards, she has received the European Parliament’s 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought and Germany’s 2022 Charlemagne Prize. In 2021,
she was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda.