Lithuania's new government might ruin relations with Poland if it criticises the rule of law issues in the neighbouring country, Lithuania's outgoing Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said on Tuesday
"We will not get very far by using only the rule of law propaganda cliche,” he told reporters during the visit of Polish President Andrzej Duda in Vilnius.
Read more: Polish president arrives in Lithuania for 2-day visit
“And speaking of the ongoing processes related to [...] the violation of women's right to self-determination in Poland, there's no one single correct side as we should probably listen to the arguments of both sides,” he added.
His comments came in response to members of Lithuania’s newly elected parliament saying that the country cannot “turn a blind eye” to women’s rights in Poland.
Read more: Women's rights activists protest in Vilnius during Polish president's visit
Speaker of the parliament, head of the election-winning Homeland Union (TS-LKD), as well as the president and other MPs have now made statements, calling on Warsaw to start a dialogue with the civil society, but did not condemn the actions of the Polish government.
Read more: Vilnius cannot 'turn blind eye' to women's rights in Poland, say Lithuanian leaders
According to Skvernelis, the incoming conservative-led government might also ruin relations with neighbouring Latvia, as conservative politicians have recently accused Latvia of failing to meet the commitment to block power from the Astravyets nuclear power plant in Belarus.
"So, as we have no relations with Russia and Belarus, we just need to eventually fall out with the Poles and then we will be [...] surrounded by neighbours that we will not be on speaking terms with,” Skvernelis said.
Skvernelis has previously said that Vilnius would back Warsaw in its rule of law dispute with Brussels over judicial reforms in the country. His statements were criticised by the country’s judges.
Read more: Lithuanian judges slam PM's support for Poland's judicial reform
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