Tag: Marius Laurinavičius

May 15, 2014 Lithuanian media round-up

On 15th of May, Alexander Lukashenko, Belarusian President, met with Mikhail Yezhel, Ukraine’s Ambassador in Belarus. During the meeting Belarusian President said that ‘he wishes that the Ukraine crisis ended as soon as possible and that there was no need to pull Ukraine in any blocs or bring troops there from any side.’ (delfi.lt, lrytas.lt)

Marius Laurinavičius, analyst of Eastern Europe Studies Center, in his commentary in IQ journal said that ‘Russia is determined to target weak states such as Ukraine firstly, because in these countries it is easy to split up society according to plans form directors of Moscow and also that they hoped to win without any help from army.’ (IQ journal)

On 15th of May Linas Linkevičius, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, participated in global security forum GLOBSEC and stressed the need to ensure independent elections of Ukrainian President in order to stabilise situation in Ukraine.The representatives of the states also agreed to continue to strengthen and coordinate a response to Russian aggression, annexation of Crimea and continuous subversion activities in Eastern Ukraine. (Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs information, ELTA, 15min.lt)

May 2, 2014 Lithuanian media round-up

On May the 1st STRATFOR reported that Lithuania and Poland are working together with Ukraine to establish trilateral partnership strengthening Ukrainian military’s Western orientation and building a closer alliance with Kiev. Read more in Lithuania Tribune: http://www.lithuaniatribune.com/67527/lithuania-and-poland-seek-closer-military-ties-with-ukraine-201467527/,

On May 1st International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that they would be forced to reconsider the size of emergency aid package for Ukraine if the country loses control of the Eastern Region (lrytas.lt, 15min.lt). You can read more in Reuters: http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/05/01/ukraine-crisis-imf-idINL2N0NN0UZ20140501.

On May 2nd Marius Laurinavičius, analyst of Eastern Europe Studies Center, in an interview to lrytas.lt journalist said that ‘according to his calculations there’re about 4000 active mutineers in Eastern Ukraine, from which about 300-400 are sent by Russia.’ (lrytas.lt). You can also read a recently published analysis ‘What will determine Ukraine’s future scenarios?’ by Marius Laurinavičius and his colleagues here: http://www.eesc.lt/news/737/1808/The-Eastern-Pulse-What-Will-Determine-Ukraine-s-Future-Scenarios.html.

Vilija Aleknaitė-Abramikienė, vice-president of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, said that ‘Kremlin and Vladimir Putin itself has to take responsibility for arrested OSCE military observers in Eastern Ukraine’ (15min.lt, delfi.lt). Read more in Lithuania Tribune:
http://www.lithuaniatribune.com/67545/responsibility-for-observers-lives-lies-with-kremlin-lithuanian-osce-pa-vice-president-201467545/.

On May 2nd Andrius Kubilius, Leader of opposition of Lithuanian Parliament, on ‘Opposition’ radio programme emphasized the importance of ensuring energy independence in EU and clearly declaring the process of expanding the European Union if it wants to stop Russian aggression. (The News Radio)

On May 2nd Carl Bildt, Foreign Minister of Sweden, in his Twitter account said that ‘so far it is a clear assessment that Kiev’s government has been implementing April 17 Geneva agreement while Russia has not’. (15min.lt).