Ažubalis on the foreign policy agreement stuck in the Seimas: it’s a matter of self-respect

The politician also finds the decision of fellow conservatives to invite former prime minister, center-left politician Gediminas Kirkilas to the working group strange. According to A. Ažubalis, finding a compromise that satisfies all parties is “a matter of self-respect”, so political forces – if they have the desire and potential – should come to an agreement themselves, without moderators from the country.

“I value Gedimin’s experience well, he is an experienced politician and only a fool would argue with that. However, I am surprised by the fact that the active parliament and active foreign policy activists, heads of institutions are not capable or do not have enough negotiating potential to reach an agreement. If they don’t have the potential to agree internally, how will they agree externally?” – A. Ažubalis said to Eltai and admitted that he learned about the invitation of his colleagues to G. Kirkil only from the press.

“I still believe in that cross-party potential. This is a matter of self-respect – can we come to an agreement ourselves, or do we need a moderator from the country?” – asked the politician.

The parliamentarian also recalled the first version of the agreement on foreign policy, part of which representatives of the Seimas opposition did not agree to sign. According to the politician, the document offered to the parties was too broad – the 33 points contained in the text of the agreement covered, according to A. Ažubalis, aspects that are only slightly related to Vilnius’ foreign strategy.

“I think someone tried to insert a political agenda of their own view into the first draft,” he mused.

Therefore, continued A. Ažubalis, the new text of the agreement should be much more specific.

“I think there should be 3-4 points – essential points. For example, one of the points could be that Lithuania, acting in the European Union, takes into account its national interests first. (…) There should also be a point about regional politics, about relations with the East and presence NATO. I think that would be enough”, the politician explained and emphasized that the political forces of the country basically agree with the recent theses.

As previously announced by ELTA, the agreement of political parties on foreign policy was started after Russia started a war in Ukraine. Most of the controversy during the preparation of the agreement was caused by the divergent opinions of the ruling party and the opposition regarding the position towards China.

In October of last year, G. Landsbergis called for the political parties’ agreement on foreign policy to be allowed to “cool down” and to end the discussions after the upcoming municipal elections. The minister emphasized that the rulers are ready to discuss and try to find compromises with the opposition.

After the elections, when Elta asked the chairman of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee (URK), Žygimantas Pavilionis, whether the ruling party plans to return to discussions with the opposition, the politician made it clear that there is no significant breakthrough on the latter issue yet. However, he claimed to feel a positive mood in both the parliamentary majority and the opposition.

Later it turned out that Ž. Pavilion turned to former MP and Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas for help. According to him, although the center-left politician would not be given formal duties, in order to move the agreement on foreign policy goals that has been stuck for a year, G. Kirkil’s involvement would not interfere, noted the head of URK.

The opposition of the Seimas evaluates the latter idea extremely critically – according to the politicians, the role of moderator and leader in this situation should be taken by the country’s head of diplomacy G. Landsbergis himself.