Фото: МИД Литвы
Lithuanian diplomats were prepared for negotiations with their Belarusian counterparts on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna on 4 December, but the Belarusian side rejected the proposal, according to the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On 9 December, the chargé d’affaires of Belarus in Lithuania was summoned to the Lithuanian MFA. He was presented with a note of protest “in connection with ongoing hybrid attacks from the territory of Belarus and the forced detention of property belonging to citizens and companies of the European Union.”
“The Belarusian side was once again strongly urged to ensure effective control of its airspace and to return the unlawfully detained property belonging to citizens and enterprises of the European Union,” the Lithuanian MFA reports.
The Lithuanian MFA expressed regret that Belarus refused negotiations at the technical level. Lithuania had been ready for talks on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna, but Belarus was not satisfied with the diplomatic level of the meeting.
“The MFA expressed regret that the Belarusian side did not take advantage of the opportunity to discuss at the technical level the issues that Belarus itself had allegedly proposed to address more than once — both publicly and through diplomatic channels. Lithuania was ready for such an opportunity on 4 December at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna, after Finland, which was chairing the OSCE, offered its assistance as a mediator.
Unfortunately, the Belarusian side declined this invitation, stating that it was not satisfied with the diplomatic level of the meeting proposed by Lithuania — to resolve this issue, the Lithuanian MFA had appointed a special envoy on border matters with the rank of Ambassador-at-Large.
At the meeting it was noted that Lithuania remains ready for constructive dialogue to resolve the outstanding issues, but the clear refusal of the Belarusian side — despite its own initial and subsequent appeals — demonstrates a simple unwillingness to cooperate in resolving problematic matters and a clear lack of good will,” the Lithuanian MFA states.
The Lithuanian MFA recalls that in 2020 the EU Council listed the conditions for resuming political dialogue, sectoral cooperation and financial assistance to Belarus:
• to end human rights violations and repression against participants in the democratic movement, independent media and representatives of civil society;
• to release and rehabilitate political prisoners and compensate them for the harm caused;
• to ensure safe conditions for the return of people forced to leave the country for political or other reasons;
• to provide a genuine and inclusive political process that participants could trust and that would lead to free and fair elections under OSCE observation;
• to guarantee respect for human rights, including freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of information, freedom of assembly and association, as well as freedom of the media.
“The MFA expresses hope that the Belarusian authorities — seeking high-level contacts — will take steps to fulfil the above conditions,” the Lithuanian MFA’s statement says.
For reference, the Belarusian MFA earlier claimed that it had proposed to the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to hold consultations on the margins of the OSCE ministerial meeting, but “the Lithuanian side did not agree to such contact.”
Belarus has been persistently urging Lithuania to engage in political consultations at the MFA level regarding the Lithuanian trucks blocked in Belarus. Yesterday Alyaksandr Lukashenka once again demanded that Vilnius begin negotiations without the involvement of third countries and put forward his conditions: the return of fire trucks intended for Zimbabwe, the normalisation of the sanatorium in Druskininkai, and the return of money invested in the port of Klaipėda.