Lithuanian Seimas Speaker Admitted Relations with Belarus Could Change: Sanctions Alone Yield Results, But Not Final Ones
Lithuanian Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas stated that negotiations with Minsk are ongoing at both technical and political levels — through predecessors, writes LRT.
Photo: Delfi.lt
The Seimas Speaker was asked to comment on the words of Davydas Matulionis, advisor to the president, who says that Lithuania might make concessions to Belarus to benefit itself.
— I don't want to reveal all the behind-the-scenes details of where the negotiations are taking place. As you know, today in the Seimas we postponed the adoption of the resolution we prepared to find opportunities to discuss various options, because we need security, we need economic growth, and this is not always achieved only through a tough stance, but also through diplomatic channels, and that's why such proposals are born, — he said.
When asked for clarification on whether changes in relations with Belarus could occur, Olekas answered affirmatively.
— Well, yes. We hope that first all political prisoners will be released, that our detained transport will return, and that's why we are talking. Firstly, we are talking at a technical level, and we are talking with Belarus itself, and at a political level, we are talking through our allies.
The politician notes that the issue of establishing relations with Belarus is not simple.
— I believe we should all be happy and congratulate the people who were released after 4 years in prison. Tomorrow I am meeting with Ales Bialiatski, and perhaps I will meet with others to talk about what we can do to ease the lives of Belarusian people.
And, of course, our tough stance with sanctions, with pressure, yields a certain result, but not a final one. Therefore, the language of our allies, the language of the Americans, is the so-called "carrot and stick" policy. We already have, probably, several hundred — we can count almost 200 — political prisoners and prominent individuals who have been released. Of course, this trade issue has also arisen, but we are focusing, consulting, and conducting discussions with partners, with allies at both NATO and European Union levels, to achieve the best result: so that the regime does not feel victorious, so that neither Lithuania nor democratic European states lose, and so that political prisoners can gain freedom, — he replied.
Ihar Losik recounted how he was held in the KGB pre-trial detention center with a former delegate of the All-Belarusian People's Assembly — a police colonel who, while drunk, almost killed his wife 22
Comments
[Зрэдагавана]