Lithuanian parliament calls for international recognition of Russia as terrorist state

The Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, has passed a resolution, calling on other countries to designate Russia as a terrorist state.

The resolution was supported by all 114 Lithuanian MPs attending the vote on Tuesday.

“First of all, we call on the European Union and its member states to work together to extend the EU legal framework to recognise states sponsoring terrorism and using terrorist means, and we call for ensuring the implementation of the EU sanctions policy by preventing any sanction circumvention [...],” said Raimundas Lopata, a liberal MP and one of the authors of the resolution.

“I do agree with the text of your resolution that Lithuania is calling on Europe to do so, but perhaps Lithuania should also set an example. It’s incomprehensible to me how Russian gas is still passing through Lithuania’s territory to Kaliningrad. Lithuania receives money, takes money from terrorist Russia for that transit. The Germans have somehow managed to sort things out with Nord Stream. When will Lithuania sort it out?” Labour Party MP Artūras Skardžius asked.

In the adopted document, the Lithuanian government proposes raising, both at the EU and global levels, the issue of recognising Russia as a state sponsoring and perpetrating terrorism.

It also includes a proposal to keep raising the issue of Russia’s accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Ukraine and establishing a special international criminal tribunal.

In May 2022, the Lithuanian Seimas recognised Russia as a state sponsor and perpetrator of terrorism in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

The new resolution also calls on the government to take steps at the EU level to sanction members of Russia’s political parties, namely the United Russia party, the Communist Party of Russia, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, and A Just Russia Party.

Moreover, the adopted document proposes strengthening responsibility for failure to implement international sanctions and attempts to circumvent them, to create a functioning national control mechanism and measures to ensure export and transit controls not only on dual-use goods but also on potentially dual-use goods or sensitive technologies that could be used for military purposes.