Lithuania’s top presidential adviser on foreign policy said Tuesday that questions surrounding international law in Venezuela are complex, while urging to respect the law in the case of Greenland.
“The issue of international law here [in Venezuela] is complicated, but the president of Venezuela is not someone we would mourn,” adviser Asta Skaisgirytė told the radio Žinių Radijas.
She reiterated Lithuania’s position that it does not recognise Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimately elected president, arguing that his rule was also rejected by much of the Venezuelan public.
Skaisgirytė said the priority now should be a peaceful transfer of power and the organisation of new presidential elections in Venezuela.
Asked whether Lithuania and the European Union hesitate to criticise the United States because Washington serves as Europe’s main security guarantor, Skaisgirytė said European security is currently unimaginable without US support.
“At least today, we cannot imagine European security without the support of the United States,” she said. “Perhaps at some point in the future we will reach a level of armaments that allows us to feel secure, but I repeat, at this moment the European Union cannot feel safe without the United States.”
She said she does not see a risk that US actions could encourage rogue governments “hostile to the West” to violate international law because they are already doing.
“Aggressive, often dictatorial states will not be stopped from using certain methods – international law will not stop them,” she said.
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Separately, Skaisgirytė said international law must be respected with regard to Greenland, after US President Donald Trump last week again suggested that the autonomous Danish territory should become part of the United States.
“We truly believe that international law must be respected, and Greenland, although autonomous, is currently part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and that should be the end of the matter,” Skaisgirytė told the radio Žinių Radijas on Tuesday.
She said the United States could strengthen its presence in Greenland through other means, such as investment.
“Americans can be present in Greenland in other ways, probably more profitable than, say, using simple military force,” she said.
In recent days, several European countries, including the Baltic states, have expressed solidarity with Denmark and urged the United States to abandon any threats regarding Greenland.
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