Cichanouskaja reacted to the discussions about the complete closure of the border with Belarus
“Recently, Lithuanian news portals discussed the statements of unknown provocateurs that humiliate Lithuania and Lithuanians. I will assure you that there are not many such anti-Lithuanian statements in the Belarusian society and they are not significant”, S. Cichanouskaja addressed the participants of the debate “Lithvinism: origin, influence and challenges to Belarusian-Lithuanian relations” held remotely in the Seimas on Monday.
“Belarusians really respect Lithuania’s sovereignty, its history and identity,” she assured.
S. Cichanouskaja considered that the statements of various people with hostile and Litvinist attitudes are provocations, the purpose of which is to “damage the trust and friendship of Lithuanians and Belarusians”.
“They seek to divide us, so that Belarusians surrender to the influence of the Russian world,” the politician emphasized.
“I want to hope that these provocateurs will not be able to achieve their goals, and the challenges will only strengthen our bond,” she hoped.
Therefore, she repeated once again that she is democratic Belarus does not have any claims to the territory or historical identity of Lithuania.
“The statements of the provocateurs are absurd and infuriating, they contradict the basic principles of democracy and the national interests of Belarus. I would like to emphasize the general position – we do not have and will never have any territorial claims against Lithuania. The territory of Lithuania and The state of Lithuania belongs only to Lithuanians. There are no questions here,” emphasized S. Cichanouskaja and pointed out that the opposition forces of Belarus will help Lithuania to identify provocateurs.
“We take this issue seriously. We understand Lithuanians’ concern about security. Lukashenka’s agents have no place either in Lithuania or the European Union. They need to be deported,” she concluded.
Recently, there has been concern in the public space about increased manifestations of Litvinism – a member of the National Security and Defense Committee (NSGK) also drew attention to this Raimundas Lopata. According to him, the escalation of Litvinism ideology and the falsification of the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (LDK) are related to the Kremlin regime.
Litvinism is a theory by which believers believe that the creators of the LDK are Belarusians. According to this theory, medieval Lithuanians were actually Belarusians.
Responded to discussions about the complete closure of the border with Belarus: a humanitarian corridor should be ensured
In her speech, S. Cichanouskaja also mentioned the possibility of completely closing the border with Belarus, which is being discussed among Lithuanian politicians.
One of the leaders of the opposition of the neighboring country called on the Lithuanian institutions to ensure that in such a case persons fleeing the regime of Alexander Lukashenko could use the humanitarian corridor.
“We understand why there is a discussion in Lithuania about closing the border with Belarus. But a humanitarian corridor should be ensured, which could be used by those fleeing repression in Belarus. There is no other choice if we want to save lives and preserve freedom,” she said.
“Therefore, I hope that the Lithuanian government’s policy on Belarus will not change”, said S. Cichanouskaja.
Two checkpoints on the border with Belarus have already been closed in Lithuania, the cover plan of the State Border Guard has been updated, according to which military and border guard exercises took place last week, and the screening of Belarusian citizens in the country for threats to national security has been strengthened.
Last Friday, the National Security Commission (NSK) also approved the system of indicators, which will allow the country’s institutions to respond appropriately to emerging dangers on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border and to make decisions on the closure of additional border checkpoints.