Linkevičius: Let Cichanouskaya tell herself what she plans to do

“It just came to our notice then. The Foreign Ministry put forward some intentions. There will be solutions in the near future. (…) It seems that at this moment we are talking about individual sanctions,” said Dainius Gaižauskas, president of NSGK.

NSGK member L. Kasčiūnas clarified that this is an additional inclusion of people in the so-called Magnickis list. Those people would be barred from entering the country.

“According to our Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners, we have a list called Magnickis, where we can include through a national decision people who have contributed to electoral fraud and imprisonment,” said L. Kasčiūnas.

Linkevičius: First of all, we seek common European solutions

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius, although he did not rule out that the issue of national sanctions could be discussed in the future, emphasized that the goal was first of all to form a common European position. An extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council will take place on Friday, where, thanks to Lithuania’s initiative, one of the questions will be about the situation in Belarus.

“If we talk about the people responsible for the events, I would distinguish two areas. One is rigged elections, the other is the use of force against the civilian population, which does not end there. If you follow the events, you will have realized that it is happening recklessly, for no reason, and it does not stop there. That should be our focus.

Consistency is as much as possible – fighting for a European solution, and then what is impossible, as we usually do – we take some national measures, ”said L. Linkevičius.

Talk to colleagues in the region

The Foreign Minister also reported that he was also speaking with colleagues from the region.

“And today I talk all day with the Nordic and Baltic countries, Poland and others. Let’s talk about how it could be. But there will be an opportunity for everyone to discuss on Friday, and then we will see what the mood is to form common guidelines. We are very creative in condemning, but that is already becoming unconvincing and there should be some consequences. Even more so because everyone seems to agree that relations with Belarus should be reviewed, “said L. Linkevičius.

I spoke with Cichanouskaya

As ELTA announced, the Foreign Minister spoke with Sviatlana Cichanouskaja, a former presidential candidate in Lithuania.

According to the minister, he feels better and will speak to the media himself in the near future. The minister also says he does not know whether S. Cichanouskaya will form a government in exile.

“It just came to our notice then. We just, emphatically, don’t want to plow through or rush anything. Let her tell herself what she plans to do. Our goal was to get her away from the threat so she would be safe with her children and recover from the stress. that I had experienced. We should not rush things further … Certainly, we ourselves will not form the governments of other countries. We will pay more attention to working with civil society, “said L. Linkevičius.

According to him, S. Cichanouskaja is currently feeling better and will interact with his own media in the near future.

“She feels better. Little by little she is recovering and interacting with the media. She is in self-isolation right now. I think she will tell me more when she wants and can,” he said.

Committee meets with Belarusian opponents

A meeting of the members of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee with representatives of the Belarusian opposition is currently taking place.

Belarusian authorities announced Monday that President Alexander Lukashenko had won 80 percent of the vote. votes and is re-elected for another term. Protests against falsification of election results soon broke out in Belarus. The opposition candidate, S. Cichanouskaya, arrived in Lithuania from Belarus on Tuesday.

Linkevičius: We will not interfere in the formation of the governments of Belarus

Audronius Ažubalis, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Seimas of the National-Lithuanian Union Christian Democratic Party, has raised the idea that all Belarusian opposition leaders should meet in Vilnius immediately, form a government in exile, while organizes the inauguration of the president-elect.

So, without a doubt, Lithuania and the EU must support and give legitimacy to these representatives of Belarus. Without these radical actions, that is, without the creation of an alternative power center in exile, a positive break in the relationship between the democratic and authoritarian opposition cannot be expected, ”wrote A. Ažubalis on Facebook.

The Foreign Minister assured that Lithuania certainly would not form the governments of Belarus on its own, but promised that even more attention would be paid to working with the opposition and civil society. He hopes this is also more on the part of the EU.

“I want to point out that we are still working very hard. Maybe not everything is known publicly. We try to help without interfering in the internal affairs of another country, but we are not just observers, we try to help people who are threatened,” said L. Linkevičius.

The committee does not recognize the elections in Belarus as official

The Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously confirmed that it did not recognize the elections in Belarus as official and, for the first time in Lithuania’s history, declared that it did not consider Mr. Lukashenko a legitimate leader of Belarus.

“It just came to our notice then. Consequently, we will appeal to the parliaments of other democracies to take a similar position and, together with the EU, we will demand new elections,” said committee member Žygimantas Pavilionis.

The Commission called on the Government, together with the EU, but also at the national level, to draw up a list of individuals subject to individual sanctions and urges the EU to adopt the Magnicki Global Act and provide direct support to citizens currently fighting for constitutional and democratic principles. any financial or other support to Belarusian state institutions.

The CEC welcomed the initiative to convene an extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, which would also raise the issue of the EU embargo on the electricity generated by Astrave.

The CEC also agreed to hold a special session of the Seimas to consider the question of Belarus.

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