Engage, don’t isolate: RADA advocates for Belarusian youth in Brussels
From 5 to 11 October 2025, representatives of the Belarusian National Youth Council “RADA” — Aleksandra Dojnicz (Board Member) and Yulia Ralko (International Secretary of “RADA”) — took part in an advocacy and exchange visit to Brussels. The trip was organised by the Network of National Youth Councils of the Eastern Partnership, the Danish Youth Council (DUF), and the EU4Youth: Youth Engagement and Empowerment project, financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
The visit brought together 25 young leaders from Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Denmark to strengthen advocacy skills, deepen partnerships, and ensure that the voices of youth from the Eastern Partnership region are heard at the EU level. Participants also joined EU4Youth Days, a major European event focused on youth participation, policy dialogue, and mobility opportunities.
Key meetings and discussions included:
- European Youth Forum (YFJ): cooperation with EaP youth organisations and participation in European youth policy processes;
- European External Action Service (EEAS): regional cooperation, information integrity, and the EU response to Russia’s war of aggression;
- EaP Civil Society Forum: collaboration between youth and civil society actors;
For “RADA”, this visit was a unique opportunity to represent the democratic youth sector of Belarus at the EU level, strengthen cooperation within the Eastern Partnership National Youth Councils Network, and build closer relations with key EU institutions and partners. It also allowed us to exchange ideas for future initiatives focused on youth rights, advocacy, and meaningful participation.
Yulia Ralko, International Secretary of “RADA”
Key advocacy messages from the visit included:
- Access to European opportunities for Belarusian youth — ensuring equal access to Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes, developing flexible participation formats, and supporting cross-border exchanges.
- Inclusion in European dialogue mechanisms — advocating for Belarusian youth participation in EU youth dialogue and policy processes, guaranteeing independent youth representation, and strengthening peer connections to prevent isolation.
- Protection of youth rights and support for at-risk youth — recognising Belarusian youth activists as a vulnerable group, supporting political prisoners and exiled students, and integrating youth rights into EU human rights policies.
- Support for democratic youth civil society — providing institutional and financial support for independent youth organisations, creating sustainable funding mechanisms, and maintaining European partnerships.
- Visibility and inclusion in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) — keeping Belarusian youth represented in regional forums and projects, avoiding political isolation — “Engage, don’t isolate”, and emphasising the role of youth in Belarus’s democratic future.
- Institutional cooperation and trust-building with the EU — promoting structured dialogue and encouraging EU institutions to treat youth as partners in policymaking, not merely beneficiaries.
Advocacy is a long and often challenging journey — change rarely happens overnight. Yet every conversation, every partnership, and every initiative lays the groundwork for a stronger, more inclusive future.
We are proud that the Belarusian National Youth Council “RADA” can play a part in this journey, grateful to our partners for their support, and inspired by the positive changes that lie ahead for Belarusian youth.
