Lithuanian president says ‘possible to solve crisis’ by talking to Lukashenko

Speaking on BBC Radio, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has defended speaking with Alexander Lukashenko.

“I think there are possibilities to solve the crisis by also appealing to Mr Lukashenko like [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel recently did,” he told the BBC on Tuesday. “We have to talk with the man who is responsible for what is happening here at the border”

Merkel's spokesperson, Steffen Seibert, confirmed on Monday that the outgoing chancellor and Lukashenko "spoke about the difficult situation at the border between Belarus and the EU, especially the necessity for humanitarian aid for the refugees and migrants there".

According to Nausėda, “we have to talk about the humanitarian issues not only with Poland, Lithuania, or other countries of the European Union, but first of all with Belarus, because Belarus is responsible for the events on the territory of this country”.

Earlier on Tuesday, adviser to Nausėda defended his German and French counterparts speaking with Russian and Belarusian leaders, saying sanctions alone will not solve the current border crisis.

“It is not too bad that they are talking. If we all agree that the worst-case scenario is war, then to avoid war we must try to do everything we can to de-escalate the situation,” Asta Skaisgirytė, the president's chief foreign policy adviser, told the Žinių Radijas radio station.

“Yes, sanctions are needed for what we consider to be crimes against human rights and humanity in general,” she said. “But does that help to resolve the situation? No, it does not. It has not helped to resolve the situation so far, and that is why we have to look at other tools that we have in our arsenal.”

Read more: Migration crisis in Baltics and Poland

“Yes, talking is one of the tools, and we do not condemn it at all,” she said. “On the contrary, we believe that through the German and French leaders we can send messages to the autocratic leaders with whom we do not talk.”

The position of the Baltic states toward Alexander Lukashenko diverged from the views shared by other Western leaders following the August 2020 presidential election in Belarus, Skaisgirytė claimed.

According to the adviser, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conversation with Lukashenko on Monday and French President Emmanuel Macron's conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot be called formal talks.

In formal discussions, “both sides expect to get something”, she added.

Skaisgirytė said that, to her knowledge, Merkel also raised acute issues of human rights and facilitation of irregular migration.

Last week, Putin, the Belarusian leader's ally, called on EU leaders to talk directly to Lukashenko, and said Merkel was ready to do so.

On Monday evening, Putin also discussed the crisis at the Belarusian-Polish border with French President Emmanuel Macron, with both sides saying the stand-off should be de-escalated.

The EU on Monday gave the green light to new sanctions against the Lukashenko regime for its role in fueling the crisis.

Lithuania refuses to engage in dialogue with Lukashenko because it does not recognise him as the legitimate president of Belarus.

Merkel’s call surprised ‘German colleagues’ – Lithuanian MP

Merkel’s call to Lukashenko was not in line with Berlin’s official position, Žygimantas Pavilionis, chairman of Lithuania's parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, said on Tuesday.

“This call came as a surprise to all of us, not only us, but also my German colleagues,” Pavilionis told reporters.

“On Friday, together with Norbert Roettgen, the current candidate for the post of the CDU [Christian Democratic Union] leader, we signed a statement in which we clearly stated that Lukashenko is a criminal and that he must be brought to justice,” he said.

Germany's official position on irregular migration on the Lithuanian, Polish and Latvian borders with Belarus was also set out at the EU Foreign Affairs Council's meeting on Monday, according to Pavilionis.

At the meeting, the bloc's ministers decided to tighten sanctions against the Minsk regime.

“Evidence is now being gathered [...] and those responsible will be named. This is the official German position. I do hope that it will remain so,” Pavilionis added.

The Lithuanian MP described the outgoing chancellor's phone call as her personal initiative that goes against the EU line.

He said that Merkel's conversation with Lukashenko is also viewed unfavourably in the United States.

The situation at the border will be discussed with Uzra Zeya, US Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, who is expected to come to Lithuania on Thursday, according to Pavilionis.

Lithuanian PM: Merkel's concern understandable

On Tuesday, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said she was not surprised that the German leader's phone call to Lukashenko was used for propaganda.

“I am not surprised that the German chancellor is concerned about the situation on the EU's eastern border, especially since most of the people stuck there or those coming to Minsk with the intention of illegally crossing the EU border make no secret of the fact that their final destination is Germany,” she told reporters. “Her concern about the situation is very understandable and clear.”

When asked if the German chancellor's phone call to Lukashenko legitimises him as president, the prime minister said that “regimes in the east are taking a lot of efforts to prove their alleged significance and importance in world affairs”.

“It is not surprising that this conversation was used by the Belarusian government's propagandists for these purposes,” she said.