Landsbergis – about the status granted to him: Lithuania finally managed
“It kind of says there were a lot of attempts [suteikti šį statusą]. I don’t remember many attempts at all. Once, Speaker of the Seimas Loreta Graužinienė had registered such a project, but then someone stopped it. I thought what This was the only attempt. Anyway, they talked and talked and since the commune said they would be against it, everything stopped,” the professor said on the show.
He said that, for example, in Estonia, such a decision was made a long time ago.
“At the end of the day, I don’t care much. This is none of my business. Today, when I am congratulated, I say congratulate the Republic of Lithuania. She finally got it right. It is now equal to the Republic of Estonia. In Estonia, a decision was made a long time ago that since March 1990, when the then Supreme Council of Estonia voted for future independence, Arnold Ruutel is the head of state of Estonia. They said that a long time ago and no one climbed the walls or the ground shook. In Lithuania, it sometimes shook, but now maybe it will calm down”, hoped V. Landsbergis.
“In the end, I began to understand that if the Supreme Council had not made a historical mistake and had elected Algirdas Brazauskas on March 11, I think that no one from the left, from the entire great commune, would have protested that since then A. Brazauskas has been the head of state . Because they voted differently, many problems arose. Then, you know, it was my fault. When I was asked if I agreed with the candidate on the ballot, I could have said “I disagree”. And they would have calmly chosen what was needed from one candidate. But I said I agree and then chose wrongly. Chosen Landsberg. That’s how many problems come from that,” he quipped.
When asked if this decision was important to him, V. Landsbergis said that he was concerned not to make fun of Lithuania.
“Now here comes all the tricksters, [kurie sako]that there really is no Lithuania, no Ukraine, Lithuania’s independence is illegal. There would also be an argument that someone was in charge there, while Lithuania itself believes that no one was in charge,” said the professor.
Landsbergis: it would be unfortunate if the EU started making concessions to Russia
Commenting further on Kaliningrad, V. Landsbergis pointed out that inaccurate words are often used when talking about it.
“Words are very often inaccurate and exaggerated, distorting the damage. What is Kaliningrad Transit? After all, we are actually talking about the application of the EU directive to the transit of Russian goods through the territory of the EU. But these are land roads, not all transit, and not even all transit, no one restricts passengers and all kinds of goods, but for some manufacturers, they are strategic or can be used in the Russian war,” he explained.
According to the professor, Russia probably even planned what it would do after the ban, which had been known since March, came into effect. “They may have calculated what they can do politically on that occasion. What do you know, maybe even though you can, you can make a military provocation. But if he wants, he will do it anytime. <...>
If Russia is not satisfied, then maybe there was no need to start a war, there was no need to attack a neighboring country, there was no need for all that terrible not only political confusion, but also the terrible crimes that are still being committed. And those who do this still make claims”, said V. Landsbergis.
Considering how Lithuania should react in the situation, V. Landsbergis said that Lithuania itself now has no reason to make even a concession to Russia.
“One’s response is very well-informed. This is the Snake Island response. Very precise, very correct response. And to get scared and start looking for something else, I don’t know if it’s right. The EU may be scared, but what will we do? We will not rebel against the EU if the EU decides something bad for us. It will be very unfortunate, but we will not leave the EU because of this,” said the professor.
“If the EU starts to make concessions to Russia, then it will be such an unpleasant situation, disappointment may increase in the European Union and in Lithuania and elsewhere. And mistrust. for the current Russia and wants to compromise the EU by forcing concessions to the dictator. I think even considering some claims is already a concession. It was possible to answer in the same way as for Snake Island,” he added.
Europe is coming to its senses
According to V. Landsbergis, the Kaliningrad puzzle was solved in 1945.
“When Stalin annexed the Krasnoyarsk Territory by a unilateral decision and the major Western powers did not protest. So maybe the puzzle needs to be solved from there, who made the mistake. Then there were discussions about the status of that land, the European Parliament even accepted that it is a European problem.
What is happening in that land, how is it treated and its cultural heritage. All names, place names have been changed, the dictionary has been revised. Dictators are used to doing this, maybe they will tell you to do something else while waving a bomb. But it seems that Europe is starting to understand what it is dealing with,” said the professor.
After Finland and Sweden are officially invited to become NATO members, V. Landsbergis says that this will have a positive effect on both the Alliance and the Nordic countries themselves.
“Russia wanted the Baltic Sea to be a Russian sea. This is where they have lost. There remains Petersburg and Karaliaučius, named Kaliningrad after one of Stalin’s thugs.
There are residents in that land, new residents, they could even exist as a new state, some new entity in Europe, but the current ruler of Russia will not allow it in any way. the best will bomb even better than let the people of so-called Kaliningrad decide whether they want to be in Europe or Asia.
They are in Europe according to all historical, geographical, cultural data. But they probably won’t be allowed to become Europeans. And the army, which is crammed with ten, can be brought back home”, – said V. Landsbergis in the “Iš šeše” program of “Delfi TV”.
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