VILNIUS - Social Democratic leader and prime minister candidate Mindaugas Sinkevicius said on Tuesday he was uncertain whether sanctions and isolation are changing Belarus’s behaviour, but stressed Lithuania will align its stance towards Minsk with the European Union and the US.
"Sanctions (...) must achieve a certain defined result. (...) Sanctions should change behaviour. Roughly speaking, if children misbehave and you ban them from using a phone or watching TV, you don't wish them ill by stopping them from watching TV, but you want them to behave accordingly," the politician said.
"I believe that the sanctions policy currently applied in the case of Belarus is not to be reviewed now. It should be reviewed when the time comes, in corpore with our other strategic partners," he added.
The Social Democrat urged that all allies be heard when making decisions.
"We should not engage in improvisations here, but act together with the European Union, assess everything comprehensively, and hear what our partners across the Atlantic are saying and what they expect from us. Because we also expect something from them: troops, support and strategic partnership," said the chairman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party.
Sinkevicius indicated he holds a similar view regarding Russia.
Lithuania has suspended the transit of Belarusian potash fertilisers through the port of Klaipeda since February 1, 2022, after the US applied sanctions in 2021 against Belaruskali, the largest Belarusian potash producer, in response to human rights violations, crackdowns on civil society and non-transparent presidential elections in Belarus.
The European Union also subsequently imposed sanctions on Belarusian fertilisers, which were extended for another year this February.
The Americans lifted sanctions this year and later approached Lithuania and other countries in the region regarding the possibility of resuming fertiliser transit.
However, Sinkevicius said he currently has no specific plan for how Lithuania should act towards Belarus, but emphasised a lack of discussion.
"I don't have some recipe and I'm not saying, you know, let's turn the helm somewhere or rush into something. No, what I sometimes miss (...) is a clear strategy on how we will proceed here," the prime ministerial candidate said.
Speaking about relations with China, he said that as prime minister he would act with regard to "state security, diplomatic and economic interests".
"And if that means some changes, it will not be a dogmatic, value-based, undefined metaphysical thing as an argument. It will be a very clear argument as to why we are doing it, what it is based on: the size of investments, cooperation, relations, benefits," Sinkevicius said.
"I will be the one who evaluates through several components," he added.
Vilnius and Beijing have disagreed on how to restore diplomatic representation in both countries following a dispute over the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office.
Since mid-May last year, there have been no accredited Chinese diplomats or other staff members left in Lithuania.
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