Overview
- Lithuania’s president said 52 people crossed safely into Lithuania on September 11, with Belarusian media reporting 14 foreigners among them, including two Germans and six Lithuanians.
- Human-rights group Wjasna reported that opposition figure Mikola Statkewitsch was among those freed, and the exiled opposition later said he refused to leave Belarus and his whereabouts are now unclear.
- The move followed a meeting in Minsk between Alexander Lukashenko and US envoy John Coale, who delivered a letter from President Donald Trump.
- Coale signaled targeted easing of sanctions, including allowing parts for state airline Belavia, and expressed interest in reopening the US embassy in Minsk.
- Rights organizations estimate that more than 1,000 political prisoners remain in Belarus, and opposition leader Swetlana Tichanowskaja described the mass transfer as coerced rather than true freedom.