Wants not to recognize Lithuania’s independence
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Russian politician Yevgeny Fyodorov wants to withdraw Russia’s 1991 decision recognizing Lithuania’s independence. His reasoning is that the decision was made on the wrong basis. Yevgeny Fyodorov, a member of Putin’s United Russia party, has submitted a draft law amendment to the Russian National Assembly (Duma).
Lithuania’s relations with Russia
Lithuania’s relationship with its great neighbor has always been strained. As many as 150,000 opposition figures were sent from Lithuania to the Gulag camps when Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union. Of these, 60,000 wait to return to Lithuania in the 1990s. Russia has been trying to influence Lithuania’s elections ever since it became independent.
Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the occupation of Ukrainian territory in the Donbas, then-President Dalia Grybauskaitė warned Europe. She said that Russia had the characteristics of a terrorist state. In response to the President of Lithuania, Yevgeny Fyodorov claimed for the first time as early as 2015 that Lithuania’s recognition as a state had to end. Lithuania is one of the countries that has supported Ukraine the most after Russia’s invasion.
Yevgeny Fyodorov will achieve the removal of the recognition of Lithuania’s independence
His hope is that if Russia does not recognize Lithuania as an independent state, it will cause the country to be thrown out of NATO. It is Article 6 of the NATO Treaty that he hopes will lead to this. The article says, among other things:
In the event of an armed attack on one or more of the parties, as referred to in Article 5, an armed attack is understood
against any party’s territory in Europe or North America….
This is the point he hopes will drive Lithuania out of NATO. A disputed territory is to be regarded as a bleeding frontier. A country with unclear borders cannot join NATO.
Of course, this is not enough to cast doubt on Lithuania’s NATO membership. The country has no border conflicts when membership was entered into. If Russia chooses to walk away from its recognition, this is definitely not enough. Lithuania is being defended against Russian aggression. Lithuania’s independence is indisputable.
Yevgeny Fyodorov known for controversial moves
I do not really take Yevgeny Fyodorov’s proposal on Lithuania’s independence very seriously. But it reflects that such attitudes exist in Putin’s party. Other controversial proposals he has come up with are:
- 2015: Claimed that the murder of Boris Nemtsov was organised by the CIA
- 2015: Claimed that Russia’s recognition of the independence of the Baltic States in 1991 was illegal.
- 2017: Defended North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.
- 2017: Proposed using nuclear weapons against the US nuclear test centre, as well as bombing US forces.
Sources:
Russisk politiker vil ikke anerkjenne Litauen som uavhengig | ABC Nyheter
Litauen stanser olje og strøm fra Russland | ABC Nyheter
Lithuania: Russia has the characteristics of a terrorist state | ABC News
Lithuanian Foreign Minister: Russia Might Not Lose in Ukraine (foreignpolicy.com)
Litauen: Russland har kjennetegn på terroriststat | ABC Nyheter