Around 100 people gathered in Vilnius on Saturday to protest and call on national politicians to withdraw support for Israeli and US actions in the Middle East.
Protesters assembled at Vinco Kudirkos Square at noon before marching toward Town Hall Square. Participants carried Iranian, Palestinian and Ukrainian flags, alongside placards reading “No to War,” “Stop your bloody wars,” and “America=Russia”.
Human rights activist Ajus Jurgaitis, one of the protest organisers, said Lithuania’s principled stance in supporting Ukraine against occupiers should apply to all nations, regardless of whether they are allies.
"We are here to say 'no' to war and 'no' to occupations. We believe Lithuania's position against occupiers in Ukraine should be consistent, even when occupations are carried out by states that are currently our allies. We already see that Trump wants to divert part of the support for Ukraine to his war against Iran," Jurgaitis told reporters on Saturday.
"We are also protesting against the genocide in Palestine and the ongoing occupation in Lebanon, which Israel is carrying out by taking advantage of America's bombing of Iran. An order where moral and international legal rules no longer apply is unsafe for us all," he added.
A simultaneous march took place in Kaunas, where participants moved from Independence Square to Vienybės Square.
Vilnius city authorities granted a permit for up to 300 participants, while Kaunas authorised up to 50 people.
Organisers said the demonstration demanded that “Lithuania does not support Israeli and US imperialist aggression and war crimes through military, economic, or diplomatic means, and immediately ends its complicity in this war.”
The protest was organised by several groups, including Poppies Palestine Action Vilnius, the Jewish movement Vilne Bund, Demonstruokimes, VU Students for Palestine, the drumming collective RoR Vilnius, the Luna16 community centre and the Emma social centre.
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