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Belarusian activists find refuge in Lithuania

January 8, 2021

More and more people are fleeing Belarus and its authoritarian regime. Hundreds find refuge in neighboring EU member state Lithuania, where Natalia Kolegova has set up a network to provide assistance.

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Natalia Kolegova I Dapamoga
Image: O. Evdokimova/DW

Natalia Kolegova was born in Belarus but has lived in Lithuania for some twenty years, pursuing a career in real estate. But since the obviously fraudulent Belarusian presidential election and the events of the summer of 2020, she's found a new calling: helping some of the thousands of her countrymen crossing the border, seeking refuge.

She tries to persuade hotel managers to put up refugees at special discounts in Lithuania's capital Vilnius - a win-win proposition in these times of the corona crisis. But she does more. Almost every day, Natalia Kolegova drives to the border to pick up dissidents from Belarus, take them to Vilnius and help them get settled.

A Report by Oxana Evdokimova.

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