The team of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, president of Belarus’s Coordination Council and head of the Belarusian democratic government-in-exile, is one of the two organized opposition forces in Belarus. The other comprises Belarusian volunteer units fighting as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Tsikhanouskaya and her team have come a long way since their unexpected electoral success following the brutal suppression of protests by the regime of Belarusian pro-Kremlin dictator Alexander Lukashenko in 2020. The democratic force now represents a serious and systematic effort aimed at coordinating opposition activities, preparing for Belarus’s democratic transition, and actively seeking allies within Lukashenko’s regime as it draws closer to Russian President Vladmir Putin.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. But can Europe’s last dictatorship really be democratized? Who inside the current regime can the opposition call allies? How does the Belarusian opposition view Ukraine’s role? And how do the opposition’s leaders assess the unexpected warming of relations between Lukashenko and members of US President Donald Trump’s team? Franak Viacorka, adviser to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and head of her foreign policy department, speaks to Kyiv Post about these and other critical issues. Kyiv Post: Please can you tell our readers a little bit about your impressions and conclusions after the historic visit of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and your team to Kyiv in May 2026?