"The diaspora are the people who remain Belarusian in their hearts and their souls," says leader of the Democratic Forces of Belarus Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya when we meet in Tallinn. "For too long we have been in a gray zone – nobody knew what Belarus was. But [the diaspora] preserve our culture and our national identity, she says, "and keep Belarus on the agenda in the countries they now live."

Keeping Belarus on the agenda was precisely Tsikhanouskaya's goal during this week's visit to Estonia. On Monday, she opened the new Office of the Democratic Forces of Belarus in Tallinn. It will increase cooperation with the Estonian government, she says, and also act as a hub "to explain [to] the Estonian nation more about our country."

"It's a bold step from the Estonian government," Tsikhanouskaya says, "and also a very important symbolic gesture. It shows that Estonia distinguishes the Belarusian people from the Belarusian regime."

But she's in no way surprised by Estonia's attitude.

"Here, people know how to protect independence," Tsikhanouskaya says. "[Estonians] know what occupation is and that destroying national identity is part of Russia's imperialist policy."

***

National identity and being able to express it freely are not things Tsikhanouskaya takes for granted.

Growing up in Belarus, it was "not comfortable to speak Belarusian" in everyday life, she tells me. Propaganda-filled media dismissed Belarusian as just a "language of villages," reinforcing the message that "we had to speak Russian," Tsikhanouskaya explains.

"You have to understand that with all the radio and TV, they poisoned people's minds with everything Russian, and you don't have another source of information to think critically about what's happening."

"But honestly speaking, this Soviet legacy influenced all Belarusians – they wanted to destroy our national identity," she says, adding that [Aleksander] Lukashenko continues to do so "with his own hands."

It's a process that impacts all spheres of everyday life. "They change all the labels [in stores] from Belarusian to Russian. All the names of the streets now are in Russian, too," Tsikhanouskaya explains, adding that in schools, too, Belarusian is now treated as a foreign language.

"Lukashenko never spoke the Belarusian language. He hates everything Belarusian. So, language became a form of resistance. When you speak Belarusian on the streets, for the KGB, that's a sign that you might be an enemy to them."

***

Tsikhanouskaya has no doubts over the power of propaganda to shape people's thoughts. Belarusian state-run media resembles that of Russia – filled with stories of the "rotten west," where there are "no values" and "they want to invade Belarus," she says.

"This is why it's extremely important to have independent media that counters these propagandist narratives," Tsikhanouskaya tells me.

She describes recent funding cuts to independent media as "very painful," and believes losing outlets like Radio Free Europe would "not only be a defeat for the media but a defeat in our fight for people's minds," as the media sphere becomes "overwhelmed with pro-Russian narratives."

The Belarusian experience shows independent media "is crucial for connecting people" inside and outside the country, Tsikhanouskaya explains. As soon as these free media outlets close, "Russian or Belarusian propagandist media will take their place."

***

On her last trip to Estonia in November, Tsikhanouskaya spoke of the need to take Belarus' message to the world's major capitals.

Since then, strategic consultations have begun to formalize relations between the Belarusian Democratic Forces and the U.K. Tsikhanouskaya highlights the need to ensure key allies, including the EU, Canada and the U.S., too, are all "aligned in their policies regarding Belarus."

"The U.K.'s role is essential in building the security architecture of Europe," she says, pointing out that it was also a signatory to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, under which Belarus and Ukraine gave up their nuclear weapons in return for security guarantees.

Belarus is, once again, a potential "hostage of geopolitical developments," Tsikhanouskaya tells me. "The fate of Ukraine and Belarus are interconnected. We really don't want Belarus to become a bargaining chip in these discussions of peace and security," she says.

"What we are trying to explain to our democratic friends is that without an independent Belarus there will be a constant threat to the European Union," Tsikhanouskaya continues. A Ukrainian victory in the war with Russia, she says, will "provide the opportunity for Belarus to resist openly, not just underground."

"But on the other hand, if something goes wrong, if the European Union and the U.S. are not aligned in supporting Ukraine, then we might lose the independence of our country. Lukashenko is selling Belarus piece by piece to Russia. It's a really important moment now for our survival as a nation."

***

The battle for Belarus is not only happening on a geopolitical level. It is also a fight "between white-red-white, democratic people "on one side, and those bearing "Lukashenko's flag, which stands for violence, Russia, wars and intimidation," on the other, Tsikhanouskaya tells me.

"White-red-white are the colors of our historical European flag," she says. "It's the flag our country regained its independence under in 1991."

After coming to power, Lukashenko immediately changed all Belarus' official symbols to Soviet-style ones. "He wanted to drag our country back into the past, when our people wanted to go into the future," Tsikhanouskaya explains. "That's why symbols are so threatening for this regime."

"Symbolism is extremely important," for Belarusians outside the country, too, she continues. "Now, it's easy to recognize these people living in exile because everybody wears white-red-white bracelets and shows these democratic symbols. People can see and feel [that they are] part of the community of a democratic nation."

"You know, for wearing this bracelet, with the white-red-white colors," Tsikhanouskaya says, gesturing to the one she has on her own wrist as we speak, "people are going to prison in Belarus. For this flag and these colors, people are dying."

***

The day after I meet Tsikhanouskaya in Tallinn is March 25, when Belarusians around the world celebrate "Freedom Day." This year is 107 years since the country's independence was first won under that white-red-white flag.

In Estonia, however, March 25 has a different meaning. It is a day to commemorate the 1949 deportations when over 22,000 Estonians were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to Siberia and other remote locations in the Soviet Union.

As she wrote in a joint opinion piece with Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) this time last year, for both Estonia and Belarus, March 25 is an occasion for remembrance and a reminder to keep resisting oppression. "It is a sad day," Tsikhanouskaya says, "and we have to pay tribute to the people who suffered from Stalin's repressions."

Like Belarusians, Estonians know a country can only survive if "you take care of your language, your history and the European-ness of your nation," she says. This is just one of the many ways the Democratic Forces of Belarus see Estonia as a positive example to follow.

"You know, Estonians always say that you are a small country, but you have managed to preserve your own unique language and culture," Tsikhanouskaya smiles. "Often small countries can make even bolder steps than big countries."

My time with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has come to an end. "Thank you for always giving your attention to Belarus," she says as she leaves. "It's so important for us, it's so important for Belarus."

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