Гитанас Науседа. Фото: facebook.com/nausedagitanas
Lithuania is not changing its position on Belarus and will continue to support sanctions against Minsk.
“It should be noted that not long ago we secured the extension of EU sanctions against Belarus for another 12 months. During this period, there is neither the opportunity nor the political will to return to revising sanctions. Thus, the lifting of US sanctions is one thing, while EU sanctions policy is a different path,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on Thursday following news of the release of political prisoners in Belarus and the easing of US sanctions.
Nausėda added that he had personally warned US President’s Special Envoy John Coale about what he described as “Lukashenka’s tricks.”
“I told Mr Coale this directly. Since we are neighbours with Belarus — and, as they say, you do not choose your neighbours — we know very well the methods being used. The problem is that this creates a flawed incentive mechanism for Lukashenka: to turn this into a constant cycle — releasing some prisoners, imprisoning others, and then expecting new concessions during the next visit of US representatives. This creates precisely the wrong mechanism for putting the Belarusian regime in its place. Therefore, I repeat once again: one should not equate European and US policy, although we will always support the release of people, as this is the right thing to do from a humanitarian perspective,” he said, as cited by LRT.
The office of Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė also confirmed that Vilnius’s position on sanctions remains unchanged.
“US decisions are a matter of its national policy. Lithuania’s position on sanctions against Belarus remains unchanged — we adhere to a principled approach and support a strict sanctions regime,” said the prime minister’s adviser Ignas Dobrovolskas, according to Delfi.