Tag: Vytautas Leškevičius

May 17, Lithuania media round-up

On 17th of May, news portal lzinios.lt published an interview with Elvina Ergashova, Crimean Tatar. She said that ‘Tatar’s situation in Crimea is very tense at this moment.’ Also Elvina hopes that Crimea will come back to Ukraine in a year or two and this chaos and terror will come to an end.’ (lzinios.lt)

On 17th of May, Vytautas Leškevičius, Lithuanian Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, met with Mustafa Dzhemilev, Leader of the Crimean Tatars, in Kiev. According to Mustafa Dzhemilev, ‘kidnapping of Tatars, prohibition to speak the native language, limitations of the meeting law, discrimination and even murders because of ethnicity became common place in occupied Crimea.’ (ELTA, 15min.lt)

John Kerry, US Secretary of the Department of State, has made a statement on the 70th anniversary of Joseph Stalin’s forcible deportation of more than 230,000 Crimean Tatars from their homeland in Crimea. In his statement, he said that ‘for many Crimean Tatars, these abuses are still fresh in their minds and current Russia’s occupation and illegal attempt to annex Crimea has reopened these old wounds.’ (15min.lt)

May 16, 2014 Lithuanian media round-up

On 16th of May Lithuanian Parliament delegated 8 Members of Parliament to observe elections of Ukrainian President, which will be held on 25th of May. (Lithuanian Parliament Press Office, BNS, ELTA, 15min.lt)

On 17th of May Street Music Day will be held for the first time in Kiev, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Odessa. Lithuanian artists will arrive to support European Ukraine: groups ‘Biplan’, ‘Dee&Kammy’, ‘Colors Of Bubbles’, Jurgis Didžiulis will perform in Kiev, Edgaras Lubys/Amberlife and percussionist Donatas Senkus – in Lviv. (veidas.lt, vz.lt, delfi.lt, 15min.lt)

On 16th of May Vytautas Leškevičius, Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Valeriy Piatnytsk, Government’s Commissioner for European Integration of Ukraine chaired the 10th meeting of the Lithuania-Ukraine Commission for European Integration. The Commission meeting discussed the creation of a coordination mechanism for European integration in Ukraine, Ukraine’s progress towards a visa-free regime with the EU and possible Lithuania’s expert assistance to Ukraine in the implementation of the Association Agenda. The representatives of Ukraine pointed out that they highly appreciated Lithuania’s support and consultations. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs information, ELTA, lrytas.lt)

On 16th of May Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO chief, said that ‘he could no longer trust Russia’s assurances on sovereignty and the territorial integrity of countries in the region after its annexation of Crimea’ (vz.lt, lrytas.lt, 15min.lt, delfi.lt). Read more in The Times of Israel: http://www.timesofisrael.com/nato-chief-no-one-can-trust-russia-after-ukraine/#ixzz31u0kaIJu.

On 16th of May second United Nations report about human rights situation in Ukraine was published. It says that ‘human rights violations have escalated in Eastern Ukraine and serious problems are emerging in Crimea, as well as a “wave of abductions and unlawful detentions” of journalists, activists, politicians, representatives of international bodies and members of the military’ (delfi.lt, lrytas.lt, 15min.lt). Read more in Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/16/us-ukraine-crisis-un-idUSBREA4F05Y20140516.

On 14th of May Bill Clinton, former President of United States, accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of attempting to ‘re-establish Russian greatness, not in Cold War terms — in 19th-century-empire terms,’ warning world leaders they are perhaps dealing not with a rational foreign-policy thinker (delfi.lt, 15min.lt). Read more in Business insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-clinton-putin-ukraine-russia-obama-2014-5#ixzz31u3nvN7S.

On May 16th Helmut Schmidt, former Chancellor of Germany, said that ‘Ukraine’s crisis reminds the eve of World War I and danger that situation will become more tense, as it did in August of 1914, is growing everyday.’ (delfi.lt, balsas.lt, 15min.lt)

May 14, 2014 Lithuanian media round-up

On 14th of May Petras Vaitiekūnas, Lithuanian Ambassador in Ukraine, in a The News radio programme ‘Actual Hour‘ said that ‘the tense situation remains in a most Ukrainian Region. Armed mobs looting flats, shops and banks are raging in separatist’s occupied cities. They also take hostages and demand ransom from relatives, torture and murder families, priests and Ukrainian politics.’ (delfi.lt, lrytas.lt, 15min.lt)

On 14th of May Vytautas Leškevičius, Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Igor Senchar, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine and agreed to continue to hold the position supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity and non-recognition of the annexation of Crimea. (Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs information)

On 14th of May Sigmar Gabriel, German Vice Chancelor, said that ‘Europe is partly to blame for the crisis in Ukraine although this is no excuse for Russian behaviour towards the former Soviet republic.’ (15min.lt)

Clifford Gaddy, economist and Russia expert, in an interview to Deutsche Welle (DW) said that ‘the only solution to the dispute between Moscow and the West is a neutral Ukraine’ (delfi.lt). Read more in DW: http://www.dw.de/russia-will-not-be-brought-to-its-knees/a-17630878/.

Timothy Snyder, American historian, in his fabulous article said that ‘Even as Europeans follow with alarm or fascination the spread of Russian special forces from Crimea through Donetsk and Luhansk, Vladimir Putin’s propagandists seek to draw Europeans into an alternative reality, an account of history rather different from what most Ukrainians think, or indeed what the evidence can bear. Ukraine has never existed in history, goes the claim, or if it has, only as part of a Russian empire. Ukrainians do not exist as a people; at most they are Little Russians. But if Ukraine and Ukrainians do not exist, then neither does Europe or Europeans. If Ukraine disappears from history, then so does the site of the greatest crimes of both the Nazi and Stalinist regimes. If Ukraine has no past, then Hitler never tried to make an empire, and Stalin never exercised terror by hunger.‘ (Lithuanian National Radio and Television). Read more in New Republic: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117692/fascism-returns-ukraine.

 

May 6, Lithuanian media round-up

On 6th of May Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with the former President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox. The Lithuanian head of state and the Irish politician, co-head of a European Parliament special mission in Ukraine, reviewed the results and prospects of the EU’s Eastern Partnership programme, talked about the situation in Ukraine and its implications for international security (Press Service of the President, BNS). Read more in Lithuania Tribune: http://www.lithuaniatribune.com/67643/cox-ukrainian-crisis-one-of-eus-biggest-challenges-201467643/.

On  5-6th of May Vytautas Leškevičius, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, attended a session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Vienna. He encouraged the organization to oppose Russia’s political, economical and military aggression against Ukraine and finally to take strict actions implementing Geneva agreement. Vytautas Leškevičius said that ‘Russia’s occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea, continuous attempts to destabilize the situation in Eastern Ukraine, as well as regular threatening to Ukraine and other neighbors is an existential challenge not only to Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, but also to this organization and for all of Europe’s human rights, democracy and law.’ (Ministry of Foreign Affairs information, ELTA, delfi.lt )

On May 6th Vilija Aleknaitė-Abramikienė, vice-president of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, expressed his concern about Russian note regarding stopping to inform Lithuania about military units in Kaliningrad. She said that ‘Kremlin demonstrates that all international agreements and treaties is only a game for Russia and that Kremlin is determined to break into pieces all European security architecture, which was created after World War II.’ Vilija Aleknaitė-Abramikienė also thinks, that Lithuanian society and government institutions, including Ministry of National Defense, couldn’t stay calm any more. (Lithuanian Parliament Press Office, BNS, ELTA, unofficial translation)

On May 6th Rimantas Šadžius, Lithuanian Minister of Finance, said that ‘Russian-Ukrainian conflict will have a limited impact on the Lithuanian economy’ (BNS, 15 min.lt, Lithuanian National Radio and Television). Read more in Lithuania Tribune: http://www.lithuaniatribune.com/67656/russian-ukrainian-conflict-to-have-limited-impact-on-lithuanian-economy-201467656/.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, in an interview to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper said that there is a threat that conflict in Ukraine will reach the point of no return and it becomes a start of war in Eastern Europe (15min.lt, delfi.lt). Read more in Lithuania Tribune: http://www.lithuaniatribune.com/67666/frank-walter-steinmeier-giving-up-is-not-an-option-201467666/.

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, in a press conference said that would be a pity if Russian President uses the celebration of the Victory Day to visit Crimea. (15min.lt, delfi.lt)