On Thursday, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda spoke on BBC HARDtalk where he said Lithuania "feels the pain of those people in the streets" of Belarus.
“We are very close to the Belarusian nation, not only in geographic [terms], but also in the emotional sense,” he said. “We see how they are suffering. We hear the stories about violations, about tortures.”
When Lithuania declared independence 30 years ago, “a small country far away, Iceland, stepped in and recognised our independence”, said Nausėda. “We didn't forget it. We think now we must do the same [for Belarus] what Iceland did [for us] 30 years ago.”
Read more: Belarus applies ‘Stalinist methods’ to suppress opposition, says Lithuanian FM
Belarus’ neighbouring countries, including Lithuania, took swift action to propose mediation between Alexander Lukashenko and the civil society, said Nausėda.
“Unfortunately, Lukashenko was not ready to take [up] this initiative, and he turned towards [Russian President] Vladimir Putin,” which is probably why “the situation is deteriorating”, according to Nausėda.
The Lithuanian president said the results of the August 9 presidential election in Belarus were not legitimate, therefore, “Alexander Lukashenko is not the legitimate president of this country”.
The Baltic states published a coordinated list of national sanctions, which also targetted Lukashenko. And although the EU spoke out in one voice, “so far we do not see a list of EU [sanctions]” that would include Lukashenko, he added.
“I am stressing that it’s extremely important that other countries, the EU as a whole, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, apply the same sanctions on the Belarusian regime,” said Nausėda.
Read more: Lithuania says EU’s inaction over Belarus undermines foreign policy credibility
He said the Western countries were reluctant to sanction Lukashenko himself, because they wanted to leave room for negotiations in the future.
However, “I really have doubts that this is still possible”, said Nausėda. “We see a certain breaking point" when Lukashenko contacted Putin, "and we see that Lukashenko is just not ready to have any mediation, especially from the side of the EU".
Democracies cannot stay silent on #HumanRights abuse in #Belarus. I call on the international community to act promptly: support Belarus civil society & sanction the regime. Great conversation w/@stephensackur on @BBCHARDtalk pic.twitter.com/F1R2AwrOSM
— Gitanas Nausėda (@GitanasNauseda) September 10, 2020
Lukashenko is turning towards working with Russia to resolve the crisis, which doesn’t leave room for the civil society, said the Lithuanian president. “If there are no representatives [of the civil society], what mediation is it? Mediation between Lukashenko and Putin?”
When asked if the actions of Lithuania and other neighbouring countries are inadvertently assisting Kremlin, which claims of foreign interference in Belarus, Nausėda said “you cannot push anyone who is already hugged by the bear”.
Belarus is heavily indebted to Russia and Lukashenko is “totally exposed to the will of Vladimir Putin” who sees him as “a very convenient partner”. Through Lukashenko, Putin ultimately seeks to “merge both states into one body", said Nausėda.
“You should not blame Lithuania, Belarusian people, that the situation is like this,” he added.
Read more: Putin holds key to Lukashenko’s withdrawal – opinion
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