Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys has criticised a book on the country’s history published in Russia, which features a preface written by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“It is a tool for hostile activities against neighbouring countries: to question statehood, history, values, symbols, but also to justify Russia's imperialism and aggression against its neighbours,” Budrys told reporters on Wednesday.
“We have seen this before, we are seeing it now, and this is just another example,” he said.
The book claims that the Lithuanian nation and language do not exist, Professor Gintautas Mažeikis from the Vytautas Magnus University told LRT RADIO. The book, which he said was available for free online, also claimed that the Lithuanian nation-state was created by Slavs and Russia.
“The denial of Lithuania’s existence seems very similar to the denial of Ukrainians as a nation,” Mažeikis said.
The authors of the book include Giedrius Grabauskas, a former associate of Lithuanian politician Algirdas Paleckis who was convicted for spying for Russia.
Before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin wrote a pseudo-historical essay on the history of Ukraine, claiming the country did not exist.
“In Russia, these activities are funded generously, they see the benefit and the sense in it and they do it. The most important thing here is that we also spread our message properly and do not begin to doubt our own history,” the minister said.
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