In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said that the EU’s lack of action on the situation in Belarus undermines its foreign policy credibility. He stressed that the EU needs to encourage the democratic movement in Belarus and resist the influence from Russia.
Linkevicius said that the EU should provide “substantial help” to the opposition in Belarus, and he himself met with two Belarusian opposition leaders on Friday. Lithuania has also offered asylum to Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the opposition camp’s main rival to Lukashenko in the recent Belarusian presidential election, who was dubbed “Europe’s last dictator.
Commenting on the EU’s current response to the situation in Belarus, Linkevicius noted that “sometimes we react too late, our measures lack uniformity and make no impression on (the country’s) society or on those in power.” He said, “When we fail to deliver on our national commitments, it shatters our own foundations. We must therefore be firm.” The EU has previously announced that it would not recognize the results of last month’s elections in Belarus, but Brussels and the EU’s major capitals have not offered substantial support to the Belarusian population in the face of Moscow’s apparent offer of support for Lukashenko. Washington’s reaction has also been criticized as “delayed and too moderate.
It is noteworthy that, in the absence of Western support, Tikhanovskaya told VOA in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Monday that the country’s political crisis is “absolutely an internal matter. The Belarusian people are responsible for what is happening,” she said. We think we have to solve this problem ourselves.” She added: “But if it happens that we need the help of other countries one day to organize, mediate or negotiate, of course any country that is willing to solve this problem for us will be invited.”
Lithuania has been the most active of all EU member states in providing support to demonstrators against the Lukashenko dictatorship in Belarus. Linkevicius, for one, referred to Lukashenka as the “former president” of Belarus. Lithuania, along with the other Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia, has taken sanctions against Lukashenka and 29 of his close associates. Linkevicius, noting that he favors a unified EU approach to sanctions against the Lukashenka regime, stressed that “it is better to speak with one voice, because the option of silence is not acceptable.
Since declaring independence from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s, Lithuania has been skeptical of Russia, the successor to the Red Empire, after repeatedly warning of Russian aggression when Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and annexed Ukraine’s Crimea six years later. The EU “has a better understanding” of today’s Russia than it did 10 years ago, Linkevicius said. But, he added, “our colleagues should realize that we are not talking about science fiction, we are talking about what is really happening.”
Lithuania has always opposed the idea that European powers such as Britain, Germany and France should seek to “reset relations” with Moscow. According to Linkevicius, Russia’s involvement in Syria and Libya in recent years is the result of “not learning any lessons” from previous confrontations with Moscow. These countries, he said, “are not dealing with crises, they are creating them. He stressed that Europe must provide “meaningful and practical” support to the Belarusian opposition. The Belarusian opposition itself has shown signs of internal division in recent days, he reported. He argued that ways should be found to raise funds and provide help to suitable opposition candidates.
The Belarusian people should not feel abandoned,” Linkevicius noted. We should provide them with the perspective of becoming a democratic state. If they carry out reforms, they can certainly expect closer cooperation with the EU, which will bring benefits to society.” When asked if there is an East-West split within the EU, Linkevicius replied, “I shouldn’t call it a split.” He also acknowledged that the EU has other issues to address, such as the dispute between Greece and Turkey over territorial waters in the eastern Mediterranean and the neo-crowning pandemic.
In addition, thousands of Belarusian women marched again in the capital Minsk on the 5th of May. However, social media platforms such as Twitter continued to report the presence of pro-Lukashenka security forces, who entered university campuses in plain clothes and removed protesters and passersby from the streets. Thousands of the country’s women participated in the march that same day, chanting slogans such as “Free the Children”. For the first time that day, the march was joined by supporters of the LGBTQ community carrying rainbow flags. It is reported that Tikhonowskaia will meet with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on September 9.
Reuters also reported on August 5 that Olga Kovalkova, a high-ranking member of the Belarusian Opposition Coordinating Council, had arrived in Warsaw, Poland, on the same day. Kovalkova, who was sentenced to 10 days in jail on August 25, claimed that after her release she was informed by the Belarusian government that she would face arrest if she did not leave the country. Kovalkova claims she was taken to the border and entered Poland through the Kuznica-Brodsky border crossing before arriving in Warsaw. The Belarusian Coordinating Council of the Opposition was established by Tikhanovskaya, of whom Kovalkova is an assistant.
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