Hello, Privy Tanya, and welcome back to the Europeans, the podcast that tries to put a human face on what's happening around this continent. I don't know why I sounded so unsure about that. We are doing it. We're putting a human face on what's happening around this continent. Yes, we are, especially this week because you're going to hear the latest episode in our little mini-series,

our critically acclaimed award-winning miniseries, if we can describe it like that, or is it too

boastful, Katie? Very boastful, but do it anyway. Good. It's called This is What a Generation

Sounds Like, and if you haven't heard one of these episodes before,

it's a series where we hand over the microphone to young Europeans to tell us their stories.

And this week, you're going to hear from a poet and activist called Hannah Comar.

She's from Belarus.

We first met her last year.

And at the time, she talked about what it was like to be put in jail for taking part in the huge pro-democracy protests that shook Belarus two years ago. Protest against the dictator,

Alexander Lukashenko. We were immediately taken by Hannah's powerful story and we asked her to be

a part of this series. We really wanted this series to include the voice of a young person who has had to fight

for freedom.

A lot of us Europeans take our freedoms for granted, but not all of us living here get to enjoy

free elections.

We don't all get to criticise those in power without worrying about it.

Hannah is a European millennial who has been to jail just for asking to live in a democracy.

When we first met Hannah, she was hoping to move to London to study creative writing.

And that dream came true.

She's now living in London and that's where we recorded this story.

But as you're here, your heart and your body can be in different places.

We have a phrase,

"'Dolgier provo de lichne's sluze.

...