Dialogue with Belarus is only possible if it shows goodwill - Nausėda 0 11

“Should we now, with a record flow of illegal migrants at our border in recent days and constant attacks with balloons, ask the neighboring regime for an indulgence for a meeting?” said the head of state on Wednesday in an interview with TV3, commenting on the call by the U.S. special envoy for Belarus, John Cole, in an interview with LRT for Lithuania to hold a bilateral political meeting with Belarus and restore the transit of fertilizers.

“On the contrary, I would say we must very specifically state: if in the next few weeks, four weeks, there are no balloons, no illegal migrants, all political prisoners safely return to Lithuania, and the regime truly demonstrates efforts to normalize relations or at least does not create tension for the neighbor, we will consider this a sign of goodwill and possibly begin such a dialogue,” noted Nausėda.

According to him, the current situation is far from one that would allow for a dialogue with Minsk.

The President of Lithuania pointed out that when discussing the possible resumption of the transit of Belarusian fertilizers through Lithuania, it is necessary to remember that this is regulated not by Lithuania's sanctions, but by those of the European Union. On February 26, the bloc extended them for another year.

“Europe is certainly not ready to just violate the deadline for its extension. However, these 12 months will pass, and during this time, other positive shifts may occur. The regime has countless opportunities to show that they really want to get closer to the West, that they want, say, to stop being a puppet of Russia in the war against Ukraine. I understand that today such a suggestion seems unrealistic, but they have the opportunity to demonstrate it,” claims Nausėda.

“Then we would undoubtedly be the ones who would say and certainly not ignore the fact, even speaking at European Union forums, that, look, the situation in Belarus is changing, and we can accordingly change our policy, but today I do not see any prerequisites for that,” he added.

The BNS agency previously reported that Lithuania suspended the transit of Belarusian potassium fertilizers from February 1, 2022, after the U.S. imposed sanctions in 2021 against the largest Belarusian producer of potassium fertilizers, Belaruskali, in response to human rights violations, repression against civil society, and opaque presidential elections in Belarus.

This year, the U.S. lifted these sanctions when Alexander Lukashenko's regime released some political prisoners.

Additionally, this week, a record number of illegal migrants – 35 – were deployed at the border with Belarus in one day.

Due to smuggling balloons from Belarus, the operation of Vilnius Airport also had to be suspended.

Cole, for his part, stated last week that a meeting with representatives of the Minsk regime could take place at the vice-ministerial level. He also emphasized that one should talk to the authoritarian President of Belarus, Lukashenko, without “preconditions.”