Belarus Brands Euronews ‘Extremist’ in Move Tsikhanouskaya Calls Act of Revenge

The Belarusian government’s decision to designate Euronews as an extremist organisation is an act of political retaliation by President Alexander Lukashenka against independent media, according to exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Speaking in an exclusive interview, she argued that the move reflects the regime’s deep-seated anxiety about the free flow of information rather than any genuine security concern.

Tsikhanouskaya, who has led the Belarusian democratic opposition from exile since the disputed 2020 presidential election, said the designation was consistent with a broader pattern of the Minsk government attempting to silence critical voices both at home and abroad. By attaching the extremist label to a major European broadcaster, the regime effectively criminalises the act of watching or sharing its content within Belarus.

A Label With Real Consequences

The practical implications of the designation are significant. Under Belarusian law, individuals found to have distributed or even accessed material from an organisation classified as extremist can face serious legal consequences, including criminal prosecution. Tsikhanouskaya warned that the ruling puts journalists operating inside the country, their sources, and everyday citizens at measurable risk simply for consuming or passing on news from the channel.

Euronews is one of Europe’s most widely watched international news networks, broadcasting in more than a dozen languages and reaching audiences across the continent and beyond. Its coverage of the 2020 Belarusian election protests and the subsequent crackdown by Lukashenka’s security forces drew considerable attention internationally, and opposition figures say it is precisely this reporting that placed the broadcaster in the government’s crosshairs.

According to reports, Belarusian authorities have in recent years dramatically expanded the list of media outlets, non-governmental organisations, and individuals they classify as extremist. The list now includes numerous independent Belarusian news portals as well as several international outlets that have reported critically on the government. Rights groups have consistently condemned the practice as a tool of political repression designed to isolate the Belarusian population from outside perspectives.

European Union officials and press freedom organisations have repeatedly called on Minsk to reverse such designations and to release journalists and activists detained in connection with their work or their media consumption. The Lukashenka government has shown no sign of relenting, and analysts say the Euronews classification is unlikely to be an exception to that trend.

Tsikhanouskaya urged European institutions and democratic governments to respond firmly to what she characterised as an escalating assault on press freedom. She framed the targeting of an established European broadcaster not merely as an internal Belarusian matter but as a direct challenge to democratic values on the continent as a whole. For the millions of Belarusians who rely on foreign media to access information unavailable through state-controlled domestic channels, she said, the stakes could hardly be higher.