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“To my knowledge there are now hundreds of vaccine manufacturers seeking approval. Even if a large part of them could not pass the tests and register successfully, there will still be many vaccines on the market, “Landsbergis told reporters on Tuesday.
“We will definitely have a much broader option than what we have now,” he added.
He said he supported Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė’s position that Lithuania would not buy the Russian “Sputnik” vaccine, even if it was approved by the European Medicines Agency.
“I support the prime minister’s position that the Sputnik sun should not be transported from Moscow, and it really seems to me that there is a geostrategic decision from Lithuania to buy vaccines here, because they are bought with the money of our taxpayers from countries that are close to us in courage, “Head of Lithuanian Diplomacy.
“We probably don’t want to pay money to a producer who will then buy munitions for the same money through the budget, which can be used in, say, eastern Ukraine,” he said.
G. Landsbergis assured that Lithuania has decided to buy the vaccine only from manufacturers that meet the “transatlantic criteria”.
Asta Skaisgirytė, the president’s chief diplomatic adviser, told a press conference that the country’s leader’s position coincided with that of the prime minister.
“There is no such language about Lithuania being able to buy a Russian vaccine,” said A. Skaisgirytė.
Discussions about the possibility of using Chinese and Russian vaccines have recently gained momentum in Europe.
Hungary was the first in the EU to approve Russo-Chinese vaccines without waiting for a joint decision, the Czech prime minister said he was considering such an option.
Leaders in Germany and France say Russian and Chinese vaccines could be used if approved by the European Medicines Agency.
Many Westerners have long been skeptical of the Russian vaccine, but the mood changed with an article in the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet this month saying that the effectiveness of Sputnik in protecting against COVID-19 is 91.6 percent.
Landsbergis: Adoption of sanctions on Russia would be a good response to Borrell’s visit
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis says negotiations are under way with representatives of the Baltic states and Poland on sanctions against people who contributed to the imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navaln in Russia.
“It is mainly about the so-called Navaln list: people who are involved or have contributed to the arrest, imprisonment and trial of Alexei Navaln. Perhaps the clients as well. Lithuania participates in this process. We hope that soon the list will be sent to the responsible institutions. of the EU and coordination start at the highest political level, “said G. Landsbergis at the press conference after the meeting with President Gitanas Nausėda.
He also said he hoped Joseph Borrell, the European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who had received much criticism in the past week, would have a positive response.
We see that Borrell himself admits that this has been a very difficult lesson for him personally and for Europe itself. Of course, after learning from that lesson, we need to see what we can do next to prevent such frustrating situations from happening again in the future. Unanimous approval of serious sanctions would be a good response, “said the Lithuanian Foreign Minister.
ELTA recalls that Borrell went to Moscow after the escalation of tensions over the imprisonment of Russian opponent A. Navaln, despite the fact that both Poland and the Baltic countries urged the EU representative not to do so. Borrell initially said there were no urgent plans to impose new sanctions on Russia, but after a visit to Moscow during which the Kremlin sent German, Polish and Swedish diplomats, the politician changed his position and said that Russia was rejecting a constructive dialogue with the EU and that Europe needs to “draw conclusions”, including possible new sanctions.
After a meeting with the country’s leader, G. Landsbergis, and G. Nausėda’s senior adviser, Asta Skaisgirytė, on Tuesday he also mentioned the preparation of a new regional sanctions package for Belarus.
“Lithuania has taken the initiative to prepare the fourth sanctions package, hoping that Latvia and Estonia will join it,” said A. Skaisgirytė.
“There are still no clear criteria on how it will be formulated. We are talking with our Baltic counterparts about drawing up lists of people who could not come to the Baltic countries. Discussions are now taking place, evidence packages are being compiled,” explained G. Landsbergis.
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