Фото: МИД Литвы
U.S. presidential special envoy John Coale has arrived in Vilnius. In the Lithuanian capital, he met with the country’s Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys. The situation in Belarus was at the center of the talks. Coale is expected to visit Minsk tomorrow. Last week, Aliaksandr Lukashenka said he was expecting him on September 15.
According to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry’s press service, the sides discussed the U.S. administration’s efforts to secure the release of political prisoners in Belarus, the regional security situation, as well as the Belarusian regime’s ongoing actions against Lithuania and neighboring countries.
“The release of political prisoners is an extremely important humanitarian goal. We highly value the leadership of the United States and its efforts to restore the freedom of people who have been unlawfully imprisoned for their views and civic activities,” Budrys said.
He stressed that Lithuania would continue to provide all necessary support for U.S. humanitarian efforts and released political prisoners. At the same time, the minister said that Lithuania welcomed every case of a political prisoner being released, but stressed that the overall number of political prisoners in Belarus remains high and repression continues.
Budrys also pointed out that Belarus remains closely integrated into Russia’s military and political structure and security system, continues to support Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and contributes to military pressure on the West. The sides also raised the issue of migration pressure from Belarus. Budrys noted that migrant flows are growing again, as is the scale of secondary migration through Latvia. He also drew attention to the emergence of tunnels under the Lithuanian-Belarusian border.
“Such well-equipped tunnels could not have been built without the assistance or, at the very least, the knowledge of the Belarusian authorities. This is another example of the Minsk regime continuing to use migration as a means of exerting pressure on the European Union and its member states,” the minister said.
Budrys stressed that Lithuania would continue to support all efforts to secure the freedom of Belarusian political prisoners while maintaining a principled position on human rights violations, regional security and the Belarusian regime’s responsibility for hostile actions against neighboring states.