Every day this week, the police visited Cathedral Square in Vilnius, where a destroyed Russian tank has turned into a scene of political battles. Pro-Russian people turn up there carrying flowers and candles, while Ukraine supporters throw them away, and fights break out.
LRT.lt asked members of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK) how Lithuania should deal with Russia’s supporters in the country.
According to Dainius Gaižauskas, Vice-Chairman of the NSGK and member of the Farmers and Greens Union, the decision to display the destroyed Russian tank in Cathedral Square was a good idea, but it was not implemented correctly.
“Once again, the ruling party, the conservatives, are making such decisions in a very reckless manner. They fail to think about the risks. [...] They brought the tank, and the defence minister took photos next to it. They thought it was a very good public relations campaign, but it turned out to be the opposite – it made people angry,” Gaižauskas said.
According to him, there is a pro-Russian population in all EU countries. It would be better to ignore such people and not to provoke them, he said.
Andrius Mazuronis of the Labour Party said that punishing people for placing flowers on the tank could divide society further. According to him, when faced with hatred, Russia’s supporters in Lithuania will not change their minds but will only become more radical.
“Punishing people for their beliefs? I think it’s wrong, it’s censorship of opinion. The first thing is to educate, enlighten, and inform people,” he said.
“When you display such an object, I think it’s natural to expect that some people would want to make it political. It was predictable. We can see from the polls that about 20 percent of people think differently [are pro-Russian],” Mazuronis added. In his words, security had to be reinforced in Cathedral Square where the tank is displayed.
Saulius Skvernelis of the Union of Democrats “For Lithuania” said he disagreed with the activists who place flowers on the tank but called it an expression of democracy.
“It’s just a symbol that has been displayed, and some people come to express their opinion. Some people in Lithuania are brainwashed by propaganda and publicly express their support [for Russia], but whether this is a criminal act should be assessed by law enforcement,” Skvernelis said.
Dovilė Šakalienė of the Social Democratic Party said that the pro-Russian groups seem to coordinate their actions.
“These are quite coordinated actions if they take place in several European capitals. It’s exploited by Russian propaganda to turn the situation upside down. Instead of being proof of how terrible Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is, it’s instead proposed to pity the killers,” she said.
According to Raimundas Lopata of the Liberals’ Movement, the scenes at the tank show that there are people in Lithuania who are “disloyal to the country and its goals”.
“Of course, this is a matter of national security. I don’t think it should be ignored; it should be punished [...]. It’s basically war propaganda. There is freedom of speech, but we need to realise that we are at war,” he said.
Finally, Valdas Rakutis of the ruling conservative party said that the process was “controlled”.
“It’s natural that such a symbol becomes a place for expressing civic position. Some people place red carnations, others throw them away. I think it’s a natural thing. Of course, in times of war, such things are not very pleasant, but this is the way it is in a democracy,” he said.
Read more: Russian tank displayed in Vilnius helps to ‘see vatniks’ in Lithuania, president says
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