The award was handed to her by Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, who said Tsikhanouskaya was "a great symbol of the fight for the values most dear to us, Poles - for dignity, freedom, human rights, and democracy."
Tsikhanouskaya received her prize on Wednesday evening at the Economic Forum in the south-western Polish town of Karpacz, a meeting attended by top politicians and business leaders.
Earlier in the day, she met Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who said Warsaw supports Belarusian groups which are fighting for a “democratic, free and sovereign” country.
Despite a brutal crackdown on protests by Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko, demonstrators have been taking to the streets of that country since an August 9 presidential election which the opposition says was rigged.
In a speech at the University of Warsaw on Wednesday, Tsikhanouskaya called for new elections.
She said: “We are in the middle of our fight. Our protests, they are not going to fade out. The point of no return has passed.”
(pk)
Source: IAR
Click on the ‘Play’ icon above for an audio report