Lithuanian leader urges German financial sector to contribute to efforts to stop war

  • 2022-04-05
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS – Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has urged Germany's financial sector to contribute to efforts to stop Russia's war against Ukraine, his office said on Tuesday.

"Measures aimed at stopping the Russian aggression and making the regime accountable and financially responsible for its criminal actions is a humanitarian necessity – not something for us to choose freely," Nauseda said in a recorded keynote speech at the annual event of the Association of German Banks (BdB) on Monday evening. 

The president called for further extending international sanctions against Russia by cutting oil and gas imports, closing seaports to Russian ships, restricting financial operations by all remaining Russian and Belarusian banks, and isolating Russia from any international activity, his office said in a press release. 

"In order to increase the EU's own resilience, it is necessary to step up efforts to achieve energy independence, including by accelerating the green transformation, to promote innovation and new technologies as well as to continue discussions on the anti-coercion instrument, which would make it possible to protect against unfriendly third countries," it said.

According to Nauseda, today's decisions will have a lasting impact on Europe's political and economic future and, therefore, must adequately reflect the bloc's commitment to shared European values.

"Ukrainians are fighting not only for themselves. At this very moment, they are paying in blood so that Europe remains free, stable and peaceful. They are the true Europeans, indeed!” he said.