Advisor to the President on the questioning of G. Landsberg: one of the saddest elements
“It was one of the expressions of how the whole topic could be exploited, and there was a lot of it, a lot, it was actually one of the sadder elements in the discussion of the whole topic for me.” There are really many aspects that we had to pay attention to and peel off, but politics took over, making politics and quarrels, contradictions, and sometimes impersonation, diverting attention from important, foundational things,” the advisor said in an interview with Žiniai Radio on Tuesday.
The representative of the President also said that when solving the issue of Kaliningrad transit, despite the fact that after changing the decision, Russia was allowed to transport the sanctioned Kaliningrad exclave for its needs, Lithuania defended its interests, which ensured cargo inspection.
“What are those basic things – regardless of the history of the Kaliningrad transit, due to the application of restrictive measures to the transportation of goods from Russia to Kaliningrad, these were our national interests, which we did not lose sight of, what we had as our target from the very beginning, we went through the whole process and ensured that Lithuania is not other EU countries, there is no separate regime created for Lithuania, Russia does not have uncontrolled opportunities to divide the territory of the EU with any goods and in any way”, noted K. Budrys.
Last week, the opposition politicians of the Seimas announced the initiation of an interpellation to the Minister of Foreign Affairs G. Landsbergis regarding the vicissitudes of the Kaliningrad transit for sanctioned Russian goods.
At least 29 members of the Seimas can submit an interpellation to the minister, asking him to answer questions. After receiving an interpellation, a member of the Government must respond to them in writing within two weeks at the latest.
When considering an interpellation in the Seimas, a special commission is formed, which proposes to approve or disapprove the answers. If the minister’s answer is recognized as unsatisfactory and no confidence is expressed in him, such draft resolution of the Seimas must be adopted by secret ballot by a majority of more than half – at least 71 – of all members of the Seimas.
The question of the responsibility of the Minister of Foreign Affairs began to arise after the European Commission presented new guidelines, allowing Russian railways to transport sanctioned goods to and from the Kaliningrad region through Lithuania for the needs of this exclave.
Lithuania previously stopped the transit of some Russian goods to Kaliningrad after the entry into force of the EU sanctions announced as a result of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and stated that it did so based on the interpretation of the EC sanctions against the previous transit ban.
This sparked outrage in Russia, and the Commission then said it intended to draw up new guidelines.