The United States has placed export controls on AI chips, which will now apply to most countries in the world. The 18 US partners and allied countries exempted from the sanctions do not include Lithuania.
“This is a surprising position of our strategic partners. The question is where Lithuania has made mistakes in recent years, that we are not among the countries that can be entrusted with advanced technologies,” Economy and Innovation Minister Lukas Savickas told LRT.lt.
“Tomorrow I am meeting with the US ambassador and I am going to ask this question. If there is something we can fix, it has to be done,” Savickas said.
Analysts say that being part of the exemptions would have sent a strong political signal.
“There are obviously unresolved problems and we have to realise that political image-building alone is not enough. We need very concrete measures to strengthen our reputation,” Tomas Janeliūnas, a political analyst, told the 15min news website.
According to him, Lithuania has tried to position itself as being “anti-Chinese” and cooperating with Taiwan, but this did not seem to affect Washington’s decision.
The move to exclude Lithuania may also be linked to sanction evasion – companies in the Baltic states were found to be complicit in the re-export of sanctioned goods to Russia.
Simonas Černiauskas, head of Lithuania’s IT association Infobalt, said the country may have been excluded due to its small market. However, “restrictions on AI innovation are not in themselves a positive message”, he added.
The new restrictions unveiled on Monday by outgoing US President Joe Biden's administration will not apply to 18 key US allies and partners, including Spain, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.
The White House statement said that the “Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly becoming a key aspect of both security and economic resilience”, and the United States must ensure that hostile states cannot easily access the technology.
Landsbergis’ policy failed – Olekas
Juozas Olekas, the deputy speaker of the Seimas, said this showed that the China policy of the former Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis had failed.
“The loud and verbally aggressive rhetoric used by the former foreign minister has not borne fruit,” Olekas told Žinių Radijas radio on Wednesday.
“Perhaps, at times, we could have been quieter and more subtle in dealing with partners such as the US, so that those ties could be stronger and more practical. We will make every effort to put Lithuania on such lists, if not now, then in the future,” he said.
Asked whether this indicates the need for a different policy toward China and Taiwan, the Social Democrat politician said it was more important to work on “practical solutions”.
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