Lithuanian MEPs Divided on Belarus Policy: More Sanctions or Dialogue?
Lithuanian members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have shown a clear division in their stance towards Belarus, debating whether to push for new sanctions or engage in diplomatic dialogue.
The European Parliament held debates in Strasbourg on November 26, which included discussions on the European Union’s response to incidents involving the violation of airspace on the Belarus-Lithuania border. However, the Lithuanian delegates themselves were split in their assessments, with some calling for new sanctions against Minsk and others, conversely, criticizing Vilnius for refusing dialogue with the Belarusian foreign ministry.
The European Commission’s Vice-President, Roxana Mănzătu, broadly described the situation on the EU’s eastern borders as a «systematic hybrid campaign.» This refers not only to the issue of smuggling balloons, which Lithuanian authorities have been actively combating in recent months, but also to drones periodically flying from the east into the territory of other EU countries like Poland, Denmark, and Belgium.
In this context, a majority of the MEPs who spoke at the debates advocated for strengthening the defence of the EU’s eastern border and actively countering any hybrid attacks, Lithuanian news outlet LRT reported . Yet, Lithuanian MEPs were sharply divided in their evaluation of their own government’s actions in this matter.
Most of them, such as Rasa Juknevičienė, a member of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats party, urged the EU to impose new sanctions against Belarus, stating that this is «the only language Minsk understands.»
However, there were directly opposing voices among the Lithuanian MEPs who insisted on diplomatic dialogue with Minsk. For instance, MEP Petras Gražulis openly accused «high-ranking officials of Lithuanian law enforcement» of profiting from smuggling on the border with Belarus, and accused the official Vilnius of evading a diplomatic solution to the problem.
«Lukashenko asks: let’s create a high-level working group and solve these problems. You refuse, you are not on that level,» Gražulis lamented.
Previously, Telegraf.news reported that President Gitanas Nausėda refused to escalate the issue of returning Lithuanian trucks stuck in Belarus, despite the border being open, to a political level, as the Belarusian side insists. In the view of the Lithuanian politician, the issue should remain at a technical level and not be handed over to diplomats.
Науседа отказался переводить вопрос с границей Беларуси на уровень МИД
Meanwhile, the Belarusian side continues to insist that it is impossible to resolve the current situation without the involvement of diplomats. Recently, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that the Belarusian foreign ministry must secure a meeting with Lithuania to «sort out this situation.» In doing so, he instructed the head of the Belarusian Security Council, Alexander Volfovich, to personally meet with the drivers of the Lithuanian trucks, which he did.