Lithuanian Foreign Ministry to return to issue of natnl economic sanctions on Russia - FM

VILNIUS - The Foreign Ministry is planning to propose legislative amendments that would allow Lithuania to impose national sanctions on Russia and Belarus, Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said.

Lithuania and several other EU countries are preparing for this scenario in case European sanctions imposed over Russia's invasion of Ukraine cannot be extended this summer.

EU sanctions require unanimous approval from all member states, but there are concerns that Hungary may veto the extension.

"The Foreign Ministry will soon submit the amendments. They're currently being coordinated between ministries, relevant institutions, and the government, and we'll definitely have the opportunity to discuss them," Budrys said in an interview with BNS.

The Lithuanian parliament recently extended national sanctions, mostly targeting Russian and Belarusian citizens.

At the time, the Foreign Ministry sought to register a proposal - through an MP or a group of MPs - at the final stage of the legislative process to include the possibility of economic sanctions, but did not go through with it.

Budrys said the idea was dropped because some MPs wanted a more detailed discussion on the issue.

"If we'd had an even longer debate, as some MPs wanted, (...) we would have lost our restrictive measures because the previous law, adopted for a one-year period, would have expired," the minister said.

"Now we have a law in place for another year, and we can supplement and amend it by adding new measures. Because we may need not only (national economic sanctions), but also others. And we're also looking at what other countries in the region have adopted as restrictive measures," he added.

Lithuania's top diplomat said it would be good to reach at least a regional agreement among countries bordering Russia and Belarus to block goods from entering the EU by land, which would drive up trade costs.