BNS Andrius Kubilius, Lithuania’s conservative parliamentary opposition leader who visited Kiev yesterday at the invitation of the Ukrainian opposition, told protesters in Kiev’s central Independence Square on Monday that their choice would prevail.
BNS
Andrius Kubilius, Lithuania’s conservative parliamentary opposition leader who visited Kiev yesterday at the invitation of the Ukrainian opposition, told protesters in Kiev’s central Independence Square on Monday that their choice would prevail.
“I have come here to say that Lithuania is your friend and that Lithuania is with you,” Kubilius told protesters in Ukrainian.
The former Lithuanian Prime Minister also compared the existing situation in Ukraine with demonstrations in Lithuania when it was seeking independence.
“When I see you all, I feel like I have gone 23 years back to what we all did in Lithuania. In January, 1991, tanks were directed against our freedom and our future. We lost 14 Lithuanian citizens, but we defended our right to our future. You are doing the same thing. And I would like to wish you the greatest success. I know that success will come to this great, united and European nation of Ukraine. Your choice is the choice that is not afraid of cold and what some bad people are doing. Your choice will prevail,” Kubilius continued in Russian.
In response, EuroMaidan activists chanted ‘Thank you!’ [Ačiū] in Lithuanian.
Kubilius went to Kiev on Monday to attend a round-table discussion at the invitation of Vitaly Klitschko, leader of the opposition Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR). But the discussions did not take place.
“The general situation is changing rapidly. (…) We had the chance to discuss many things with one UDAR representative in charge of the foreign policy, as well we have discussed the situation with colleagues from the American republican institute. It’s difficult to say something more as the situation is rather tense, despite the fact that the opposition is well-organised and is trying to control the situation,” Kubilius told BNS by phone from Kiev earlier in the day.
He is scheduled to return to Vilnius on Tuesday.
Ukraine has been engulfed in protests against the country’s President Viktor Yanukovych after he refused to sign a association and free trade agreement with the European Union in Vilnius. The protests resulted in violent clashes between the police and demonstrators in Kiev in recent days, leading to the death of several people.
The Seimas of Lithuania last Thursday condemned the use of violence in Ukraine and stressed that provocative actions cannot be a pretext for the use of force against peaceful protesters.
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